The Assistant
by Magdalena Iris Roth
Summary: They never seemed to last more than a week, his new assistants. Then she arrived and changed everything… his work, his sanity, because of her it was all coming apart at the seams. Crane/Scarecrow & OC. Rated for language and sexual content.
1. A Case of the Mondays

**The Assistant**

**Chapter One – A Case of the Mondays**

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><p>He hated Mondays. Not for the obvious reasons that every other working person in existence hated them, but because Mondays for him would mean the breaking in of yet another new assistant.<p>

They never seemed to last more than a week with him, whether they broke from the excessive stress brought on by working at an establishment such as Arkham, or his constant scrutiny and need for perfection as their superior... they never lasted to the next Monday.

_**Come now, Jonathan, let's not forget about Mr. Cross… he lasted a whole nine days working for us. **_The Scarecrow taunted from the depths of his mind.

_Yes, but if I may remind you he is currently employed at the local McDonald's. So much for that fancy early acceptance to Brown he loved bringing up as often as he could._

Both Jonathan and the Scarecrow smiled to themselves with satisfaction, Mr. Cross had been a fun toy to play with, neither of them would deny that fact.

A sudden soft knock on the door of his office snapped Jonathan back to reality. "Come in." he called to whoever was on the other side, the door then began to open.

"Hello?" asked the small figure that entered. "I was told to come here for my first day." Her voice was almost as timid as her demeanor.

_**Oooh, this one's gonna be as easy as pie to break.**_ The Scarecrow was cackling now.

"Yes, I'm Dr. Crane, and you must be Ms. Jessica Matthews." He looked her up and down before finishing. "Am I correct?" he put extra emphasis on the last word causing her to visibly shudder with nervousness.

"Yes, sir." The answer was as small and simple as she was.

"Doctor." He immediately corrected her, or was he scolding her? It was hard to discern at the moment.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Crane." She lowered her hazel eyes to the plain carpet on the floor.

_Interesting, I didn't ask for that much formality but it will certainly do._

"It says here that you are 23 and have already graduated with a Bachelor's in both Psychopharmacology and Psychology and you are now working on achieving a Master's in Psychology, is that right?" he read from the file he held up, blocking her view of his face as he spoke.

"Yyess… I.. I duel majored in Psychology and Psychopharmacology…" she stuttered nervously, this caught his attention and he lowered the file to look her in the eyes as she continued. "But I am currently in my fourth year earning my Master's and starting my thesis. They told me at the university that because of the subject of my thesis I should work here, with you, and…"

"What is your thesis about?" he cut her off before she could finish. Something about this girl made him impatient.

"The study of fear and the mind's ability to overcome it." She stared past his glasses into his cold blue eyes for a moment before casting her view down to the floor.

_**Well isn't this a nice little surprise?**_

"And your professor told you that I was the best candidate to educate you in this field." It would have been a question if it weren't for the arrogance of his tone. It didn't matter if it was a question or not, she only nodded mutely anyway.

He took this moment of silence to look her over. She was a plain little thing, barely 5'2 and wearing a dark gray dress skirt and matching jacket over a lilac button-up shirt.

_**It looks like mommy helped her get dressed this morning.**_

_How predictable._

"Well I am not going to lie to you Ms. Matthews, I run a tight ship here, and Arkham is definitely not the easiest place to start out learning firsthand about anything, let alone psychology." His mannerism suggested he was bored with her already, but vocally he was in perfect control and aware of everything. "You will be given a key card and a pin number that will open every door except for the ones in the Secure Wing, it will be off limits unless supervised by myself, do you understand?" he narrowed his gaze on her expectantly.

"Yes, Dr. Crane, I understand." She nodded along with her response, never taking her eyes off of him as he spoke.

"Good." He stood from his seat and began to walk towards her, dropping her file on his desk as he did so. "I look forward to working with you, Ms. Matthews, and I hope you learn everything you need from me while you are here." The first part was a total lie, but she didn't need to know that. He extended his hand for her and she shook it hesitantly. "Welcome aboard. Now, let's get you all the proper identification." Short and sweet, he opened the door to his office and gestured for her to lead the way down the narrow hallway.

Jonathan followed closely behind his new assistant, noting her dark brown hair pulled back in a messy bun before dropping his eyes down to her waistline, she had nice hips, he had to give her that.

_**Having fun staring at her ass, Jonny boy?**_ His darker half teased. _**Didn't think your mind would go there so quickly, not with a plain Jane little girl like this one.**_

_I wasn't thinking anything of the sort; you're always the one putting these thoughts in my head!_

The Scarecrow laughed deeply in the back of his mind.

_**Whatever lies help you sleep at night, Jonathan.**_

_Just do me a favor and shut up._

* * *

><p>After stopping off at the maintenance desk and acquiring all the needed tools for the job, identity badge and key card, Dr. Crane now led the way down one of the first floor corridors.<p>

"This is the first floor where all of the new patients are to be processed, cleaned and changed into the proper attire for their stay here at the asylum." He lectured her as she tried her best to keep up with his quick and steady pace down the hallway. "No patients are to be housed on the first and second floors of the main building, these floors are mostly used to house paperwork and the offices of the resident psychiatrists."

Jonathan stopped his stride abruptly in front of the old metal doors of the elevator; he pressed the small round button on the wall before turning to face her.

"Any questions so far?" his cold and calculating gaze was now upon her.

"Where are the rooms held for the patients to receive therapy sessions?" it seemed like a dumb question but at the moment she was trying to say anything to keep from going completely mute in his presence.

"There are assigned rooms on each floor where they are housed and some patients are even given therapy in their own rooms if the situation calls for such a thing." The doors to the elevator suddenly flew open, distracting his train of thought. "Don't worry, Ms. Matthews, we will get to the therapy sessions all in good time, no need to rush things." He stepped into the elevator as he spoke and she silently followed him.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to get ahead of myself I just-" she began before he rudely cut her off.

"A lot of the new doctors that come here, and the new assistants for that matter, all they seem to be interested in is the high profile patients Arkham holds. It is extremely annoying and disappointing when I discover the only reason they are here is to make a name for themselves writing some over glorified book about a serial killer, I find it a terrible waste of my time." He then shot her a severely stern look to further emphasize his point.

"Oh, no, I don't want to write a book I just, I…" she couldn't seem to spit it out, just shrank against the furthest wall of the elevator and cast her eyes to the ground. "I'm just here to learn, that's all." He could barely hear her last words, she said them as small and quietly as possible.

_Timid little one, isn't she? Like a rabbit cornered by a fox._

_**Or a wolf. I like this one, Jonathan, she's so easy to put in her place.**_

_Perhaps too easy._

Jonathan let out a tired sigh. "I'm sorry to have doubted your intentions here, Ms. Matthews; I only wanted to make you aware of my low tolerance for such things. Now that you know I'm sure you will do your best to not disappoint me." He flashed her a smug smile, as if it were to make up for his curtness before.

"Of course, Dr. Crane, I don't want to disappoint you at all." Her eyes never left the floor as the elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open to reveal a new floor.

Jonathan however couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her form, analyzing her as best he could in the dim light of the elevator. "This way, please." He then gestured for her to exit.

As they stepped onto the third floor the immediate sound of screaming caused her to flinch, Jessica's eyes widened at the sight that was now before her. Two orderlies were struggling with a straightjacket clad man who was bucking and trashing against the walls and everything else he could bring his body into contact with.

She just froze, no matter how much she told herself to move she couldn't seem to get her legs to work. Jonathan observed his new assistant for a moment, noting the obvious fear she was experiencing before reaching into the pocket of his black suit-coat and retrieving a long syringe.

Without a second's thought the doctor made his way up to the psychotic patient just as the orderlies pushed his straightjacketed body up against the wall, giving Dr. Crane the perfect opportunity to inject him, which he did.

The patient suddenly quieted and slid down the cream colored wall, taking the orderlies with him to the floor. Jonathan let out a deep breath before turning to a nurse who had just came to assist.

"Was he given his 8 o'clock dose of Thorazine?" the doctor demanded from the nurse with nothing but disdain in his voice.

"Um, yes, Dr. Crane… I believe he did." The woman in her early fifties answered nervously.

"You believe he did or you _know_ he did, which is it Nurse Tompkins?" he looked like a cobra about to strike.

"I, I'm not sure if he received his 8 o'clock dose, doctor, I'm sorry." The nurse stammered out, now beginning to tremble.

He said nothing to this, only removed his glasses slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose before placing the frames back on his face.

"Next time I come down here and have to administer a sedative because of your inability to do your job, Nurse Tompkins, it will be your last day employed here at Arkham Asylum. Now get back to work." He coldly stated with no emotion on his face, the nurse only nodded before quickly scurrying away to do god knows what in the next room.

Jonathan looked to his left to see his new assistant's petite frame glued against the far wall beside the now closed elevator doors. "Are we having fun so far, Ms. Matthews?" he called from where he stood, snapping her out of her terrified daze. "Baptism by fire I am afraid, welcome to the Secure Wing of Arkham." He let a small smirk play on his lips as he said the last part.

"I.. I thought I wasn't supposed to be here… you said…" she trailed off in a shaky voice, clearly she was frightened out her wits.

"I said it was off limits without my supervision, trust me, you are perfectly safe as long as I am here." He let another smug smirk appear on his chiseled face, it only seemed to make her even more uneasy.

_**Somehow I don't think she believes you about that safe bit, Jonny boy.**_

_Well then, maybe she's smarter than she looks._

* * *

><p><span>An:

It's been years since I last wrote anything… but I've been wanting to write a fanfic about the Scarecrow for about 3 years now, so I figured since I can't Photoshop at the moment I should try to work on a story. Clear out those metaphorical cobwebs that have been piling up in my creative thought process.

I hate short chapters so I am going to try my best to never write one on this story, time will only tell if I will be made a liar or not.

Just to let everyone know, the Scarecrow's thoughts/conversations with Crane will be in _**bold italics**_ while Jonathan's will be in _regular italics_… just in case you haven't picked up on it already, thought I'd give the heads up.

Don't really know where this story is gonna go, or how often I will be updating… but if you like what you've seen so far let me know in a review and I will do my very best to not disappoint anyone.

Thanks.


	2. The System

**The Assistant**

**Chapter Two – The System**

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><p>It was like a game really, their breaking. He had a little system to it, just like he had for everything he did, she didn't know it but her whole future here had already been planned out by him.<p>

The system had many stages to it, first stage he frightened them with a little unexpected visit to the Secure Wing, in stage two he overloaded them with more paperwork than their tiny little minds could handle. In stage three he would then invite them to a private therapy session with one of the asylum's more _colorful_ inmates… and as for stage four, well, no one had ever made it to stage four successfully.

_The system is so beautiful, it's fool proof if I may say so myself. _Jonathan smiled fondly.

_**You are such a control freak.**_

_Look who's talking. _The Scarecrow only chuckled at his response.

Jonathan was snapped from his daydreaming thoughts by the creaking of his office door as it opened to reveal Ms. Matthews, her arms full of manila folders and loose paperwork. He smirked deviously as she struggled to make her way into his office and not lose any stray papers.

"Do you need any help?" he was mocking more than asking, she didn't catch onto that fact of course.

She had only been working as his assistant for a few days now but already he had noticed her overly trusting and naive nature, she was so eager to please as well.

_**More like overly dumb nature if you ask me Jonny boy, but as for the eager to please part…**_ The Scarecrow let out a deep predatory growl which caused Jonathan to bolt straight up out of his chair.

_You can be so hedonistic sometimes._ He thought while making his way over to the small brunette, who was too busy wrestling with stacks of paperwork to notice him approach her.

"Oh, thank you." Jessica said in all gratitude as the doctor lifted over half of the stack she was carrying.

"Not at all." Was all he said in distraction, setting the papers down on the nearby table.

She followed his lead, setting her own stack of papers down beside his, once the heavy load was gone she let out a grateful sigh. When she looked up she was surprised to see Dr. Crane staring back at her, his brow furrowed deep in thought as his eyes examined her collar.

"What's the matter?" she questioned with a hint of worry to her soft voice.

Jonathan broke his gaze on her collar and met her eyes. "Ms. Matthews, you're bleeding." He stated plainly devoid of emotion, she only stared back in confusion.

"What?"

"Can't you feel this?" he gently pressed two fingers against where her neck met her clavicle bones, she then looked down in an attempt to see what he was talking about.

_Dear god, does she really think she can see her own neck by looking down like that? How absurd!_

"What is it?" there was a bit of panic to her voice now, the Scarecrow smiled at this.

"It's not a big deal, just hold still." Jonathan insisted while pulling a handkerchief from the inside pocket of his jacket, he felt like he was instructing a child. "There, the blood is gone now." He pressed the handkerchief against her throat and gently wiped away the small line of blood. "Just a paper cut, nothing to worry about." He assured while showing her the tiny trace of blood on the once pristine white cloth.

"I hate paper cuts." Was the only response she gave, all the while keeping her eyes focused on the thin red line.

"Well if I were you I would expect to receive so many more of them, what with the job I will be needing you to do." He folded and tucked the handkerchief back inside his jacket in one fluid motion.

"I will be needing all of these documents sorted and properly filed." He gestured to the stack of papers to his left. "As for the manila files I will need you to sort and transcribe all of them into my office computer, do you think you can handle that, Ms. Matthews?"

_Now we will see her break. The system never fails. _He was laughing almost manically in his mind now.

"Is it Linux or Windows?" her voice ripped him from his inner moment of triumph.

"I'm sorry?" he was confused now.

"The computer, is the operating system Linux or Windows?" her stare on him was blank yet expectant, like a baby bird waiting to be fed by its mother, mouth slightly agape.

_**I can't help but find her a little creepy when she's like this.**_

_I believe unsettling is the word you are looking for, not creepy… she's far to 'cute' to be creepy._

_**I don't know, Jonathan, baby dolls are considered 'cute' but they can be downright creepy if you ask the patient in room 512.**_

_I don't have time for these meaningless disagreements!_

"It is Linux." And with that he swiftly walked out of his office and shut the door securely behind him.

It was off to his 9 o'clock session, leaving his new assistant to go mad under the strain of too much work. Hopefully when he returned after lunch she would be ready to quit and he would finally be at peace from the Scarecrow and all of his inane thoughts that her presence seemed to cause.

* * *

><p>Jonathan stepped off of the elevator and onto the second floor, he was still riding the high he had gotten from his 11 o'clock session in room 731. As it turned out Mr. Selner's fear of rats was a little more serious than the man had first thought, the memory of him on his knees screaming in terror made Jonathan smile.<p>

_**Nothing like a good case of musophobia to get the day started off right, eh Jonny boy? **_Jonathan wasn't the only one riding the high at the moment.

He stopped in front of the door to his office, he was ready to see the overwhelmed face of his new assistant when he opened that door.

_Now this will be the cherry on the top of this very productive morning._

_**Speaking of cherry, what do you think of little Miss Matthews… virgin, yes, no, maybe? **_Jonathan visibly cringed at what the Scarecrow was asking him._** Come on Jonathan, I have money riding on this!**_

_Pig._

_**Prude.**_

Jonathan grasped the doorknob and gave it a good turn, what he saw on the other side of the door surprised him to say the least.

There she was, sitting in _his_ chair, typing away at _his_ computer without a care in the world. No look of worry or overwhelming crossed her pale and freckled little face, she was just busy, deep in the work he had assigned to her… and she almost looked happy.

_Could she actually be enjoying all this paperwork?_ He was deeply confused, now he was the one resembling a baby bird waiting to be fed.

Suddenly she realized she was not alone in the office, Jessica looked up from her typing and over at the man who stood in the now open doorway.

"Dr. Crane, I didn't expect you to be back this early." She placed her hands in her lap as she spoke, acting as if she had been caught doing something naughty.

"Early?" he questioned her, was she not aware of the time. "Ms. Matthews it's almost 1:30 in the afternoon. You have been working here for over four hours now." His words seemed to shock her and she had to look down at her watch to make sure he was telling the truth.

"Oh, wow… I had no idea. The time just seemed to fly by!" she gave him a small smile before gathering up her remaining paperwork on his desk in front of her.

"Fly by… you mean you were enjoying yourself?" he asked stepping up to his desk, his words came slower than he had intended them to, he couldn't help it, she had dumbfounded him.

"I like doing clerical work; it's almost like a hobby to me." She sent another soft smile his way as she gently brushed past him, he caught a whiff of her scent at that moment and it sent his thoughts reeling.

_Is it a perfume of some kind? No, too subtle to be perfume… her shampoo perhaps? Soap? Was it raspberries or flowers?_

Why was he so confused all of a sudden?

_**Now who's the one with the inane thoughts, hmmm doctor?**_

He ignored the Scarecrows taunts and decided to focus his attention back on little Miss Matthews instead.

_God, am I really referring to her as little Miss Matthews now? Damn you Scarecrow! _He could hear the Scarecrow's laughter in the background and it annoyed him greatly.

"Is everything alright, Dr. Crane?" came the timid female voice, snapping him back to reality; all he could do was send her a look of utter confusion. "Are you upset because I used your computer without permission? I was worried you would be but you said to transcribe the files-"

"No, no... I'm not upset with you over that." Jonathan sighed wearily, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes as he spoke.

"But you are upset with me?" she muttered lightly, he looked up to see her staring at him like a lost little puppy seeking a pat on the head.

"No." he said simply, placing his glasses back on his face, it was then that he noticed she too was wearing glasses now. How could he have missed this when he first entered the room? "I didn't know you wore glasses." He only realized how idiotic he sounded once the words left his mouth.

"Oh, only when I am reading a lot… astigmatism." She turned from him, placing the remaining files back on the table beside the finished ones; it appeared she was over a third of the way done with all of it.

"Have you taken your lunch yet?" there was a twinge of annoyance to his tone now.

"No, I was waiting for you to tell me to." Her eyes were cast on the carpet again, what was it with this girl? The only time she seemed to look him in the eye was when he was giving her a command.

_**Something tells me this puppy has already been housebroken, Jonathan.**_ The Scarecrow was purring now.

"Fine, you can go to lunch." He dismissed her with a slight wave of his hand. "But I want the rest of these files finished before the day is out, do you understand?" he tried being a bit firmer with her, curious to see her reaction to his tone.

"Yes, Dr. Crane, I will finish them as soon as I get back." She overly assured him before leaving the office, closing the door behind herself without needing to be told to.

Jonathan let out an audible scoff of disbelief after he heard the door shut behind her.

_What the hell? Can a person really be that submissive? I mean she's only what, 23? Was she raised by nuns or Nazis? She looked as if I was going to whip her for using my computer without permission! _

This girl was really starting to annoy the hell out of him, he didn't like not being able to figure a person out.

_**Jonathan, could we please not talk about submissive little girls wanting to be whipped by us… I'm on edge enough as it is! **_

_Is everything about sex with you?_

_**Of course not, there is also fear, and pain, and suffering… but sex just seems to tie everything together so well, wouldn't you agree?**_

_I do not agree, I don't think like you do when it comes to my sexual requirements._

_**Listen to you, all high and mighty with your 'sexual requirements'… you can't fool me Jonathan, I know you too well.**_

_What are you talking about?_

_**I saw you, staring at her 'hips' and sniffing her hair… oh, and let's not forget about you pointing out the cute little glasses she was wearing. **_The Scarecrow couldn't help but snicker at the memory.

_That's it, you want to play this game, fine by me!_

Jonathan angrily made his way over to his desk, he ripped open the second drawer from the floor and removed a small orange tinted pill bottle.

_**Jonathan, what are you doing? **_TheScarecrow had stopped laughing.

_If you don't want to shut up, then I will make you shut up._

_**You say you are going to do this Jonathan but you never do, face it, your threats with me are always empty. **_

Jonathan didn't answer him, he just flicked his thumb upward and popped the white cap from atop the bottle. He stared down into the plastic cylinder at the little green pills that greeted him there.

_Now are we going to behave ourself? _The Scarecrow was silent.

Jonathan put the cap back on the bottle.

* * *

><p><span>An:

I have to admit, I am rather enjoying writing this… I didn't think I would but I am.

Please let me know if you guys are liking the banter between Crane and Scarecrow, I feel like it is kinda over the top but I was going for an almost comic-bookish thing with it… since my first love is really to the Scarecrow from the comics, and then to Cillian of course. LOL!

Anyway, let me know what you all think.

Thanks again.


	3. Eccentricities

**Chapter Three – Eccentricities**

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><p>It seemed she was always early, no matter if it were at work or to a class; Jessica never seemed to arrive on time… always fifteen to twenty minutes early. Of course the city's monorail schedule did have a great impact on her own timing, what with having to rely solely on it and the public bus for her transportation.<p>

So here she sat, in the first floor break room of Arkham Asylum at 6:46 in the morning, alone.

She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was about this room that she didn't like, whether it was the bitter smell of decades of cigarette smoke baked into the walls, or the horribly bright florescent light above her head that seemed to be on its last leg. All Jessica knew was that this room gave her a severe headache.

At least the coffee was good. She sipped at the small Dixie cup in her hand all the while wondering how a room this dingy could produce a decent caffeinated beverage such as this when suddenly the break room door flew open.

A man in his late forties stuck his head in the room, his small but thick and round lens eyeglasses surveying his surroundings before finally landing on her. It appeared as if he were about to speak to her before his bug-like eyes noticed the cup in her hand.

"Good, isn't it?" his serpentine voice cooed to her from the doorway, Jessica just stared at him blankly. "The coffee, it's quite good, am I right?" she was nearly blinded by the overheard light reflecting off of his shiny bald scalp.

"Oh, yes… it is very good actually." She managed to respond through her cloud of confusion, who was this guy?

"Hugo Strange, doctor to be exact." Seeming to read her mind he extended a hand to her which she cautiously shook. "And you must be new here." He flashed her an overly fake smile.

"Yes, I am Dr. Crane's new assistant, I'm Jessica Matthews." The words had no sooner left her mouth before his smile suddenly faded, was it the mention of her employer that caused this reaction from him?

Once again he looked as if he were about to say something meaningful to her, but like before his attention quickly snapped from her to the coffee pot in the corner of the room.

The man known as Hugo Strange, doctor, strode over to where the coffee maker was plugged in at the wall, he then leant over and took a huge whiff of the steaming pot.

"Arabica beans, slow roasted… imported from Brazil." He exhaled his words while appearing to stroke the coffee pot lovingly, Jessica was amazed by the display. Once again his eyes shot to hers, making contact. "I bring the beans from home, it's all they let me have since my last… indiscretion." He seemed to be a million miles away now, lost in his own muddled head.

"Who are 'they'?" she half expected him to answer with something like 'the coffee gnomes', she briskly shook the thought away though.

"The Discretionary Board." Was all he said before leaving the coffee pot and returning to the doorway from whence he had entered.

As he got to the open door he paused before going through, he then turned to her one last time.

"The mind is a very fragile thing, Ms. Matthews." He was lost in his thoughts again. "You must never let them take it all, otherwise you cease to exist." And with those last few words he was gone, back from wherever it was in the asylum that he had came from.

Jessica was left alone in the room once more, now lost in her own bewildered thoughts.

* * *

><p>Jonathan angrily made his way to his desk, gathering up what papers he could find there before shoving them roughly into his black leather briefcase. He had an appointment with the local District Attorney's office on the matter of one of his new patients, a mob lackey by the name of Anthony Pirelli.<p>

This was the second time he was forced to declare one of Carmine Falcone's incompetents insane in the last month, the DA was starting to catch on now, or rather the assistant DA was.

_**What is it with female assistants, Jonathan? They all seem to be a pain in the ass!**_

Is if on cue his new assistant appeared in the open doorway of his office, sending him a rather confused look to his state of haste.

"Ah, Ms. Matthews, perfect timing." His tone was grateful but his expression gave away his evident agitation.

"I need you to gather all of the files on a Mr. Pirelli and bring them to me immediately. I am due at the courthouse in less than an hour." He then snatched up his briefcase and pushed past her through the doorway. "I'll be back in five minutes for those files." Jonathan called to her as he made his way towards the elevator.

Jessica gave a quick look around the office, her head felt as if it were spinning all of a sudden. She sprinted over to the filing cabinet in the far corner by the small window, tearing the third drawer open as fast as she could.

"Pirelli, Pirelli… where are you…" she muttered underneath her breath, her fingers rapidly moving from one manila file to the next. "Yes!" she exclaimed quietly with success, pulling the file out of the drawer, blindly shutting it behind her as she turned back towards the doctor's desk.

Jessica let out a high pitched squeak of a scream as her face collided suddenly with something both hard and soft obstructing her path to the desk.

"You would do better to look where you are going, Ms. Matthews." Jonathan said in an ominous tone, looking down at the small brunette's now flustered face.

"I.. I'm sorry, Dr. Crane." Was her tiny response, lowering her head as she was hit with the realization that it was his chest that her face had just made contact with.

He said nothing to this, just brought a hand up to his throat to stiffly straighten his tie.

"Do you have the Pirelli files?" his voice broke the awkward silence that was between them.

"Yes, but I could only find one file, doctor." Jessica held it up as if it were an offering to some pagan god; he took the file from her slowly.

Jonathan used this moment to closely observe her demeanor, eyes cast downward, head bowed, her petite frame was taunt as if awaiting a snake bite and her breath was coming in quick bursts every two seconds. Oh how he longed to check her pulse at this very moment.

_**Do it Jonathan! Wrap your hand around her pale little neck and let's watch her squirm for us!**_

The Scarecrow was screaming in his mind but all Jonathan could do was marvel at how she was the perfect picture of submissiveness. He felt his breath begin to hitch in his throat and he was then snapped out his momentary reverie.

_There's no time now… I must be in court soon. _Was he trying to convince the Scarecrow of this, or himself?

"I will be back before noon, please take this time to alphabetize my filing cabinet. I want everything in it to be in perfect order when I return." His voice was the paramount of control as he instructed her.

"Yes, Dr. Crane." Came her habitual response to him, her eyes still on the carpet as she began to nervously bite at her bottom lip.

His eyes quickly shot to her mouth, noting the nervous tick she appeared to have, his thoughts then traveled from that of scientific observation to personal.

_Her lips are so full and pink… I wonder how they stay looking so soft with all that chewing she does to them._

_**You're staring, Jonny boy… it's rude to stare, remember?**_

The Scarecrow's teasing jarred him back to the reality of the moment, he was going to be late. Without another word Jonathan turned from his assistant, briefcase in one hand and the Pirelli file she had handed him in the other.

"Shut the door behind me." He commanded as he left the office, he didn't need look back to know she would obey.

* * *

><p><em>Damn that Dawes woman!<em> She was really starting to get on his very last nerve.

_**I have a proposal to the problem if I may interject, doctor.**_

_Not now, I have too much work to do thanks to that smug bitch of an assistant DA._

_**I never get to have any fun anymore.**_

Jonathan stepped off of the elevator and walked briskly down the corridor to his office. With a firm hand he turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, then almost slammed it closed behind him as he entered the room.

The sudden loud shutting of the door caused Jessica to jump slightly from where she sat on the small couch in the corner beside the filing cabinet. As she looked up from the files on her lap she noticed Dr. Crane standing beside his desk, he was sending her a look of pure annoyance.

For a moment she thought of saying something to him along the lines of 'is everything okay' but quickly decided against it, better to stay quiet.

"We have a lot of paperwork ahead of us today, Ms. Matthews. I am going to have to ask you to take your lunch here in the office with me today." It was a demand, not a request, didn't matter, she only nodded obediently. "We must ensure that not a minute is wasted today." And with that he sat down his briefcase and shrugged off his suit-jacket, placing it on the back of his chair before sitting down in it.

* * *

><p>They sat quietly in the office for what seemed like hours, truthfully it was only about forty-five minutes, the only sound that of papers being rustled between them. Jonathan glanced up at the clock on the wall above the couch where his assistant sat; thumbing through the paperwork he had assigned to her.<p>

_Jesus, it is only 12:30… will this day ever end?_

He took off his glasses and wearily rubbed his eyes.

"Ms. Matthews, you may eat your lunch now if you like." He didn't look at her as he spoke, just returned the glasses to his face.

As if by magic she pulled a small brown paper bag out from beside the couch, it made an obtrusive crinkling sound as she opened it, this caught his attention.

_What is this, 8__th__ grade? _He didn't know why she annoyed him like this sometimes, she just did.

Jonathan let out a sigh before opening his briefcase with a sharp _click_. He reached in and pulled out a neatly prepared salad in a plastic bowl, luckily he had had enough time to purchase it before returning to the office this morning.

He retrieved a plastic fork and bottle of water before finally closing his briefcase for good and setting it down on the floor next to his desk. He then began to eat his lunch, no dressing, no croutons, just forkful after forkful of veg.

As he glanced up from his lunch he noticed Jessica eating her own, she had a plain looking sandwich on her lap that she was tearing into small uniform pieces. He watched in a daze as she ate the tiny pieces one at a time, chewing each one with great care, oddly her actions reminded him of a mouse.

_Very interesting. _

He went back to his lunch and finished it, once she was done as well they both instantly returned to their paperwork.

Hour after hour crept by, neither saying a word to one another, every now and then they would exchange a glance or two, but then went back to their work. It seemed like the paperwork would never be finished.

Jonathan took off his glasses, flinging them tiredly onto the top of his desk. He let out a deep breath and slouched back into his leather office chair. He had never minded clerical work, in fact it was one of his strong suits, but all of this meaningless paperwork just so the DA's office would be satisfied was downright frustrating to him.

_**You're too tense, Jonathan, you need to learn to have a little more fun in life.**_

_Really, and what exactly do you recommend as 'fun'?_

The Scarecrow didn't answer, only directed Jonathan's gaze across the room at the brunette with her head stuck in her paperwork.

_Don't be ridiculous._

_**What is so ridiculous about it? You're tense, she's eager to please… I bet all you would need to do is ask her to get on her knees in front of you and the rest would take care of itself-**_ He was then cut off by his milder-half.

_I would rather eat nails._

_**Don't be so dramatic, Jonathan… I was only trying to help.**_

He was lost in his internal dialogue when she softly walked up to his desk, paperwork in hand.

"I'm finished with these, Dr. Crane." She alerted him while setting the papers down.

As she gently laid the now completed paperwork onto the desk in front of him, Jonathan couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her hand. Before either him or Jessica could register what was happening he had quickly reached out and forcefully grabbed her left wrist with his right hand.

She didn't say a word, just looked him straight in the eyes with a look of puzzlement and a hint of something else, fear perhaps? He slowly pulled her wrist closer to his sitting form, causing her to take a step forward in compliance.

His eyes never left hers as he began to squeeze her wrist with what felt like bone-crushing force. She let out a small whimpering sound as her breath hiccupped in her throat, he had hurt her.

_**Good girl, now give me some tears.**_ The Scarecrow was cooing.

Jonathan suddenly realized that he was not the one in control of his actions, in his fatigue he had managed to lose control on his mind and the Scarecrow was now starting to break through. Their steady gaze never broke the entire time he sat there holding her wrist within a foot of him… she had beautiful eyes he noticed, light gray with flecks of green and brown throughout them.

"Am I hurting you, Ms. Matthews?" his voice was smooth like satin in her ears, she held her breath as she nodded. "Are you frightened?" his eyes seemed to change in that moment, they were brighter somehow.

"Yyess." Her breathing was unsteady as she exhaled the word.

Without warning Jonathan loosened his grip, he was holding her wrist in his hand almost tenderly now. He broke their eye contact and she followed his gaze downward as it fell to her wrist.

"You have the thinnest wrists I've ever seen, Ms. Matthews. Tell me, have you ever broken one of them?" he sounded as if he were examining her like a patient, yet his tone had something dangerous behind it, was he threatening her?

"No." her voice was so small and innocent, he began to gently stroke her wrist with his thumb, caressing the smooth skin above her exposed blue veins. "Dr. Crane?" she questioned, he didn't look up from her wrist only made a subtle 'hmmm' sound in response. "I still have more paperwork to do…" This caused his eyes to shoot back up to hers.

Jonathan stared blankly at her face for a few seconds before finally seeming to come back to his senses.

"Of course, Ms. Matthews." He released her wrist completely. "Please continue with your work." He said dismissively, he was back to his old self again.

As she carefully made her way back to the couch he noted the now uncomfortable tightness of his pants.

_**Rather eat nails, eh Jonny boy?**_

_This is all your fault._ He spat internally, the Scarecrow let out a sadistic laugh.

* * *

><p><span>An:

Okay, so I have completely written 3 chapters so far, but I have at least 7 chapters completely planned out and in the works. If I may say so myself, the 6th chapter is going to be a good one, I would tune in for that if I were you guys.

So what I am attempting to do here is mix the comics with the plotline of Batman Begins… trying to mix the two as seamlessly as possible. So if there are some characters you are all unfamiliar with don't worry about it, the plot is pretty much still on the same track as the movie.

As always, R & R.

Thanks again.

They never seemed to last more than a week, his new assistants. Then she arrived and changed everything… his work, his sanity, because of her it was all coming apart at the seams. Crane/Scarecrow & OC. Rated for language and adult content.


	4. To Hell with the System

**Chapter Four – To Hell with the System**

* * *

><p>The old, rusty elevator doors slid shut with an unsettling creak. She had been running a little late this morning, a first for her in five years. Jessica pressed the second floor button with haste, glancing down at her watch as she did so.<p>

"Still have six minutes, it's okay, I'm not going to be late." She assured herself aloud in the silence of the cold elevator car; it was then that her eyes noticed the somewhat dark bruising around her once pale left wrist.

She had been lucky to forget to wear her watch yesterday; otherwise the thin silver band and face would have been carved into her flesh along with the now evident bruises. Before her mind had time to travel any further the car came to a rickety halt and the doors flew open.

Jessica quickly pulled the long sleeve of her blouse down to cover her injured wrist before stepping off of the lift and onto the second floor of Arkham Asylum. Her head was down as she made her way to the last office at the end of the right corridor, she stared at the pristine metal plaque beside the office door which read _'Dr. Jonathan Crane, Director'_ before gently knocking on the wooden barrier.

"Come in." was the distracted sound she heard from the other side, she then gave the doorknob a good turn and pushed the door open.

"Ah, Ms. Matthews, it's good to see you." Dr. Crane greeted her in the same preoccupied tone as before, never once looking up to acknowledge her presence, she wondered how he even knew it was her that had entered his office.

"Good morning, Dr. Crane." Was her plain response to his greeting, she couldn't help but wonder what he was searching for atop his desk that had him so inattentive. "Can I help you find something?" Her tenor was helpful, but the look he now sent told her he had not taken it that way.

"No, thank you. I am perfectly capable of finding my _own_ paperwork in my _own_ office." He never once raised his voice to her, just held that cold and calculating stare that made her knees tremble and her eyes drop to the floor.

_**That'll show her Jonathan, put the little mouse in her place.**_

He examined her from where he stood at his desk; she was standing by the open doorway, chewing at her bottom lip, eyes glued to the carpet.

"I am sorry, Ms. Matthews, I honestly don't know where that came from." slightly ashamed of his momentary lapse of his famous resolve he was now feeling a bit apologetic. "The workday hasn't even begun and already it has been a long morning for me." She said nothing to his apology, only turned and shut the office door before having a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

Jonathan observed her behavior before speaking again, he had to carefully choose his next words to her. She neatly crossed her legs while placing her hands in her lap, her eyes still on the floor the entire time, the tension in the room could have been cut with a knife.

"Would you like to discuss your thesis with me, Ms. Matthews?" the words just poured from his mouth without another moment's thought, her head immediately perked up and gave him a look of complete disbelief.

_**What are you doing, Jonathan!? We had this all planned out, you are changing the game without even consulting me first!**_

The Scarecrow was furious, Jonathan chose to ignore this.

"You… you really want to discuss my thesis?" she sounded almost as if she had imagined the whole thing, the doctor only nodded while taking a seat in his leather office chair across from her. "Well, I don't really know where to start…" it seemed that confidence was not this girl's strong suit.

"You said that it was about the overcoming of fear, about the mind's ability to overcome it if I remember correctly." Ever the good psychologist, Jonathan knew how to get people to talk.

"Yes, it's about desensitization mostly." As soon as she said this he was immediately interested. "The only true way to overcome any fear is to familiarize yourself with it until it is no longer a threat in your mind. Once the threat is gone, well the fear soon follows."

"And you have tested this theory on yourself?" it was an odd question, but she didn't think anything of it.

"Yes, I actually first tested it when I was about seven years old." She answered simply; he was in awe at that moment.

"You conducted a psychological experiment on yourself at the age of seven?" Jonathan was amazed by this, he himself was only eight when he first became enamored with psychology and the study of fear soon followed at ten.

"Yes, I was in the second grade and I was so afraid of spiders that if I saw one or knew one was around I would go almost completely catatonic with fear." As she explained this he couldn't help but feel himself getting lost in her words, she was actually telling him her fears, he didn't even have to ask. "Of course once I was done being frigid as a first response I then would go straight into the fight-or-flight response to the situation. That got me into a lot of trouble with the teachers, freaking out and lashing out all because a daddy long leg was on my desk."

She was holding her hands together tightly as she spoke, was it out of nervousness to the public speaking to him or from dredging up a past fear? He was suddenly so hypnotized by every little detail of her words and mannerisms.

"Then one day I was in the school library, which is where I always spent my free time, and I stumbled upon a book about arachnids. I checked it out and studied it cover to cover, pictures and all until I was no longer afraid. By the end of that semester I had read every book in the library on spiders and found that I had my arachnophobia completely under control." She gave him a small smile once she was finished; he took this moment to start questioning her methods.

"So after you familiarized yourself with information on the fear you no longer felt it, is that correct?" he was deeply curious about her little experiment but was sure to never let his tone give it away.

"Well, I believe I will always fear them, the phobia goes so deep into my subconscious that I can't really help but fear them. But as far as being as afraid of spiders as I once was, there was definite improvement that I think helped me a lot in my younger life." He could tell she was starting to doubt herself now, had that been his motivation all along?

"Basically your thesis is about trying to further discover how deep into the subconscious overexposure of fear can go, and whether or not the outcome is a successful one or not?" he appeared to be lost in his own thoughts as he posed the question to her, his eyes cast downward onto the top of his desk, surveying the notes that were scattered there.

"Yes, that is correct." She answered calmly.

_**Sounds oddly familiar. Eh, Jonathan?**_

"I see." He concluded while still deep in thought, he seemed to be calculating an equation that only he knew existed.

"The mind is an incredible thing. It can overcome anything as long as it truly believes it can." Her voice crept softly into his clouded thoughts, pulling him back into the present moment.

He looked up from the desk to her sitting form, she hadn't seem to move an inch since she sat down.

_She does have discipline installed in her somewhere, I wonder how that came to be._

_**Enough of this! You have had your fun playing story time, Jonny boy, now it's my turn! **_The Scarecrow was practically howling at him.

_What are you talking about?_ He was lost in the meaning of his alter's words.

_**The plan, Jonathan! We must proceed with the system!**_

He cleared his throat and stood from where he sat behind his desk, this caused her to follow his lead and stand as well.

"Ms. Matthews, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me in a session today with one of the asylum's more serious patients?" he knew her answer before she even said it.

"Of course Dr. Crane, I mean, if you think I am ready." She was so naïve; it made a smile play on his lips.

_She has no idea what is in store for her today._

"Oh yes, Ms. Matthews." He nodded to her with a false portrayal of consideration. "You are most definitely ready."

_**It's about damn time.**_

* * *

><p>They stood at the nurse's station on the third floor of Arkham Asylum, Dr. Crane injected the needle of a syringe into a glass bottle that read <em>'Diazepam'<em> while his new assistant slipped on a white lab coat she had been given to wear only moments before.

"I must warn you now, Ms. Matthews, these sessions rarely go as planned." He alerted her as calmly as possible.

"I understand." Was all she said in reply, never taking her eyes off of what he was doing with the hypodermic needle in his hands.

Once he was done filling the syringe to the desired point he removed it from the bottle and neatly recapped the needled end. Jonathan's eyes then shot back to her, she only sent him a questioning look as he held the syringe outward in her direction.

"Here, Ms. Matthews, take it." It was an easy task, one she could not seem to do.

"No, I… I don't think I will need it." She was shaking her head vigorously back and forth the entire time she spoke, he narrowed his gaze on her.

"It wasn't a request, Ms. Matthews!" he almost growled at her in aggravation, he could tell his tone had shocked her, yet she still did not obey him. "Take it." His words were slow and threatening, his patience had worn thin now.

"But I…" Jessica trailed off, he was now sending her a venomous look of disapproval and it made her bottom lip quiver.

She shakily reached out her hand and slowly took the needle from him, she then quickly shoved it into her coat pocket, trying her best to touch as little of the thing as physically possible.

_**What the hell was that all about?**_

_I can't be 100% without further testing, but I do believe our little assistant is belonephobic. _

_**How delicious.**_

It took the doctor no more than a split second to shake off his previous stake of anger before turning back to the desk of the nurse's station. Jonathan quickly filled another syringe with the sedative and placed it into the right pocket of his charcoal gray suit coat.

"It's time." Was all he said before making his way down the corridor, practically leaving her behind.

Jessica paused a moment before realizing his words were her cue to follow him through the guarded cage-like doors into the Secure Wing. Dr. Crane flashed his ID badge at the man behind the gated barrier, with a silent nod the man then turned the key and opened the doors for him.

"I would stay close if I were you, it's never a good thing to get lost in Arkham." Jonathan spoke without looking back at her as he continued his stride down the hallway. "Especially here in the Secure Wing." He didn't need to look back to know she was right behind him now, or that she was nodding in agreement.

He stopped in front of a closed door that read _307_ where an orderly was awaiting their presence.

"Has he already been moved into the room?" Crane asked in the usual monotone voice he addressed all of his _lesser_ employees in.

"Yes, Dr. Crane, I brought him in myself about fifteen minutes ago." The orderly remarked.

"And he has been properly secured?" the doctor wasn't looking at the orderly now, too busy scanning through his notebook and files he had brought with him.

"Yes, he has been handcuffed in the front as to your request, doctor."

"Excellent, we may proceed." Came his dismissive response to the man, he then turned his attention back on his assistant who was waiting patiently behind him. "Ms. Matthews you are about to meet a man by the name of Cornelius Stirk. Mr. Stirk was arrested for several serial murders involving the victims' hearts being cut out of their chests, it was later discovered that he scared his victims almost to death before finally killing them so he could ingest their hearts." Her eyes seemed to widen slightly at his words. "He has been a patient here on and off for the past thirteen years, he is suffering from severe cases of both psychosis and borderline personality disorder." She just continued to stare at him with that wide eyed look of terror.

_Scared already?_

_**Good. This is going to be fun.**_

"Is.. is it safe to be around him?" her tone was so small and hesitant.

"He is on a mixture of several antipsychotic medications; this lessens the severity of his condition and makes him approachable." Jonathan assured her, this appeared to quell her fears for the moment. "Of course…" then again, he didn't want her completely unafraid, "these medications have not been having the response that we would like them to have on Mr. Stirk." He said the words in an almost darkly manner.

"What do you mean?" there was the frightened bunny cornered by a wolf tone he wanted to hear from her timid voice.

He chose this moment to pause reflectively before answering her.

_**That's it Jonny boy, draw it out of her.**_

"Nothing, it's not important… let us begin the session." And with that ominous reply he turned from her towards the door to room 307.

He fluently swiped his key card into the door's electronic locking mechanism, punched a quick six digit code into the pin pad that she could not keep up with to memorize, and then opened the door for them both to enter.

* * *

><p>The room was colder than the hallway outside of it, and the light poured in from the barred window on the far left wall, casting an eerie ambiance to the small chamber. Dr. Crane swiftly made his way over to the metal table that stood in the middle of the room; he placed his files and notebook down on it before addressing the man that sat at the opposite side of him.<p>

"Hello, Cornelius, how are we feeling this morning?" the doctor's tone was almost upbeat and courteous; she couldn't help but feel taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor.

"Good, Sir. I am feeling much better than before, Sir." The man's hurried words came in a desperate frenzy.

The handcuffs around his wrists clanked together as the man known as Cornelius Stirk nervously rubbed his hands back and forth several times, Jessica looked him over in that moment, from his seated red-orange jumpsuit clad body up to his bald scalp. She then noticed that his head was not bald from shaving, it appeared as if almost every last strand of hair had been pulled out of his head, there was harsh red scabbing throughout his scalp and a few tiny blonde strands hung sadly in scattered amounts in every other spot.

Jessica softly walked over to the folding chair next to where Dr. Crane now sat, busy scribbling something down in his notebook. As she sat down she noticed how Mr. Stirk's roaming eyes instantly moved up and down her small form, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"Ah, yes… Cornelius, this is my new assistant, Ms. Matthews." He never looked up from his notes as he introduced them, not until he realized his patient had not answered him. Jonathan's eyes immediately shot up from the table to send Stirk an icy stare. "Where are your manners, Cornelius?" there was an inkling of malice to the doctor's words and Stirk's fear of this was evident. "Say hello."

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Sir. Hello. Hello, Ms. Matthews." It came in a rambling jumble but the response satisfied the doctor none the less.

"There's a good boy." Was all Jonathan gave him in reward; he then sat down his pen in close proximity before continuing with their session. "Now, we last left off discussing the reasons for which you believe…"

She shrank back in her seat as Stirk's dark sunken eyes bored into her own, the doctor's words suddenly seemed to be far away and fading into darkness, was she fading as well?

"-the norepinephrine gives you a feeling of vitality, that your life-force is recharged by ingesting…" Crane's monotonic voice beckoned her from the abyss only to begin to fade out as before.

Her breathing had become slow and heavy, her eyes never once breaking from the mental patient across from her, his deep stare holding her firmly within the trance he had created for her.

"-is that correct, Cornelius?" Crane finished, not looking up from his file as he did so.

There was no answer, only the unsettling silence of the room.

Jonathan looked up from his reading to see Cornelius Stirk holding a strong and steady gaze across the table with his assistant; neither of them seemed to have blinked in over a minute.

_Interesting, seems Mr. Stirk has taken a liking to Ms. Matthews. I knew he would._

_**Here comes the fun part.**_ The Scarecrow was humming with impatience.

"Cornelius?" the doctor called firmly to the man across from him, there was no change. "Cornelius!?" he was practically yelling into the man's face now, still nothing.

As a last resort Jonathan began to wave his hand in front of Jessica's face, specifically her eyes, breaking the eye contact that was so strongly held between the two people. He let out a sigh as she began to blink repeatedly, lowering her head to rub her eyes as she did so, the spell was broken and Cornelius Stirk was not pleased by this.

"Wha… what happened?" she asked unsurely, before the doctor could even answer they were both shaken by a sudden howl from across the table.

Stirk let out a wild shriek before bolting up from his seat, sending the metal folding chair beneath him flying back against the wall. He shot both cuffed hands out in front of him in Jessica's direction, making his fists into claws before springing forward across the table as he lunged at her. She let out a high pitched scream that reminded Crane of a field mouse caught in a steal trap; instinctively Jessica fell back against the left wall behind them, her dark hair coming undone from behind her head as she slammed herself against the stone wall.

Any normal doctor would have came to her assistance, called for help to one of the many orderlies that stood outside the door, instead he merely stepped out of their way, allowing Stirk to have a clear path to her form that cowered on the floor against the wall.

Cornelius flung the metal table out of the way as he came towards her, she just remained perfectly still on the floor, her breath coming in sharp panicky gasps.

_What if she hyperventilates? _

_**I could really care less.**_

_You'll care when she is unconscious from lack of oxygen._

_**Shut up and let me enjoy this, Jonathan! **_

_I'm giving him the injection. _He reached into his suit-coat's pocket and grasped the syringe in his hand.

_**No! She hasn't screamed for me yet! **_The Scarecrow was roaring at him in his mind.

_She screamed when he first snapped, this is getting out of hand!_

_**You call that little mouse's squeak a scream? I need more than that!**_

Stirk was upon her now, all the color had drained from her face as his claw-like grip made its way around her tiny neck. Even with the madman's hands around her throat she didn't fight, nor try to scream, she just stared wide eyed and mouth agape into the man's twisted face.

Jonathan knew he wouldn't strangle her, it wasn't Stirk's _'style'_, like the Scarecrow Cornelius Stirk needed fear, it was the fear that gave him what he needed, and she was nowhere near as afraid as Stirk, or the Scarecrow for that matter, wanted her to be.

Cornelius gave a tight squeeze on her neck and she gave him what he wanted, there was sudden terror in her watery hazel eyes. Without another moment's warning Stirk pulled his hands off of her throat and thrust them down onto the white lab coat she was wearing, he flung the coat open in a frenzy before gripping his claws into the soft cotton of her blouse, he let out a growl as he ripped the garment apart in one crazed motion. Jessica finally released a terrified scream as her shirt was torn open, buttons flying all over the room at every possible angle, she instinctively brought her hands up to try and cover herself, not to mention ward off the psychopath who was assaulting her.

_There, you have your scream, I'm ending this now._

_**Don't be ridiculous, Jonathan! This is just starting to get good!**_

Jonathan pulled the syringe from his pocket as he ran over to where Stirk was crouched atop his trembling assistant. He pulled the cap from the needle with his teeth before trusting it deep into the psychotic man's neck. This didn't seem to faze Stirk at all, he continued to battle Jessica's hands as he clawed her lace covered left breast, trying to rip out her heart through his now sedative clouded mind. After a few more seconds of this, Stirk finally succumbed to the drugs flowing through his system; he slowly collapsed on top of the poor girl, resting his scabby head on her shoulder against the wall.

Jessica was shaking so badly now that she resembled someone who had just been electrocuted, just as she thought she was safe and the man was successfully unconscious, Stirk opened his tired mouth and languidly dragged his tongue up the side of her face and across her smooth cheek. This proved to be more than she could take as she let out a sharp gasp of fear which caused a sudden shiver of pleasure to shoot up Jonathan's spine and come to rest behind his groin.

_Fuck._ It took all the strength he had to keep from letting out a gasp of his own.

_**Uh, Jonathan…**_ The Scarecrow taunted.

_What?_

_**You're staring at her chest.**_

The Scarecrow was right, he had seemed to be lost in the delicate white lace of her bra the entire time Stirk was going down from the injection.

_**Don't worry, I think she's been a little too preoccupied with her fear to notice you staring at her tits.**_

_I wasn't staring at her…_ Jonathan decided to give up before he even began; he was never going to win this argument anyway.

_**I understand… there isn't really much there to stare at.**_

Jonathan let out a verbal scoff to the Scarecrow's remark, sometimes he just didn't understand his alter's mind. He then bent down and grabbed Cornelius' shoulders with both hands and pulled the sedated man off of his assistant in one steady motion. Once the weight of the man was lifted from her, the first thing Jessica did was pull the white lab coat back around her frail form, covering her bra-clad chest from view.

"Are you alright, Ms. Matthews?" he asked her with sincerity to his voice, all she could do was nod at him. "Let me help you." He extended his hand to her and she graciously took it, allowing him to gently pull her up from the cold floor.

She practically collapsed into his arms as soon as she was on her feet again, the sudden change in position throwing off her equilibrium.

"I'm sorry." She murmured to him, her eyes cast to the floor in shame and humiliation.

"It's alright." Jonathan assured her, he gently pushed her into an upright position, making sure she was able to fully stand on her own. "Can you stand now, Ms. Matthews?" she only nodded at him mutely.

Her knuckles were white as she tightly grasped the lab coat closed around herself, he looked her up and down, her hair clung to her pale face with a mixture of sweat and tears, the rest of it cascaded down her shoulders in long, dark messy waves.

_Is it wrong for me to think she looks pretty with her hair down at this moment?_

_**Let's not go there, Jonathan.**_

_Go where? You're the one who is always thinking of her like this!_

_**No, I am the one who is always thinking of her as a piece of ass… you are starting to think of her as some kind of pretty little girlfriend/pet!**_

_Don't be absurd! I would never think of her as anything other than a sycophantic little…_

_**Little what?**_

Jonathan was silent in his thoughts, the Scarecrow was waiting.

_Pet._

_**Here we go…**_ The Scarecrow sighed with annoyance.

"Dr. Crane…" her tiny voice broke in on his internal conversation; he gave her a look of contemplation. "May I go home and get another shirt?" the question seemed so foreign to him, he was suddenly so confused. "I'll come right back… I just…" she looked back down at her feet as her words trailed off.

She was biting at her bottom lip again.

"No, Ms. Matthews." It had sounded more callous than he had wanted it to and she looked back up at him in disappointment. "I mean, no as in you do not have to come back today. Please, go home and take the rest of the day off." He removed his glasses and began rubbing his eyes with exhaustion. "I think we have both had enough for one day." He returned his glasses to his face as he finished.

"You're not upset with me, are you Dr. Crane?" she sounded like a child awaiting discipline, he was astounded by this. "Did I do something wrong in the session… I didn't mean to, he just, I mean I-" she was starting to get flustered now, her once pale cheeks were now growing more pink by the second.

"No." he cut off her ramblings. "You haven't done anything wrong. What happened in there was beyond your control, don't blame yourself." Was he consoling her now?

_**Jesus Christ, Jonathan! What are you, her mother?**_

The Scarecrow was becoming more and more furious.

"Thank you, Dr. Crane. I'll be back first thing in the morning." She sent him a grateful smile before turning slowly towards the door to the room.

"Ms. Matthews." He addressed as she waited for him to unlock the door for her, she quickly turned back to face him.

Jonathan walked up to her and slid his hand down into the pocket of her lab coat, her eyes followed his movements the entire time. He pulled out the Diazepam filled syringe and she visibly jumped at the sight of it, she had completely forgotten that he had given it to her. The sudden jump of fear she gave him sent the Scarecrow growling for more, he did his best to ignore this.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Matthews." Was his plain and unenthused valediction to her as he slid the key card into the lock and punched in his code, the door clicked open and she cautiously walked through it, hugging her lab coat around her as she left.

* * *

><p><em>What the fuck? She was scared out of her wits and she wants to come back for more tomorrow? What is wrong with this girl! <em>Crane was livid and confused as he stepped off the elevator and onto the second floor.

_**I don't want to hear anymore bitching from you about this, Jonathan… after all; it is your entire fault that the plan did not work out!**_

Jonathan angrily stormed down the hallway, this day had not gone in any way how he had planned. After getting the incompetent orderlies to take Stirk back to his room, he was now left with the constant nagging of the Scarecrow and the perpetual questioning himself of how the day could have gone so wrong.

_I don't understand what happened, she should have broken! Why does she want to come back here!? The system, the system never fails… how could this-_

_**To hell with the system! **_The Scarecrow angrily cut off his confused thoughts, rage dripping from his words. _**And to hell with you, Jonathan! This is all your fault, we should have taken her straight to Stirk, not become thesis buddies with her in your office! That is where you went wrong, straying from the plan, and for what? Pillow talk!**_

_I was only trying to lull her into a state of trust with me, that way when I took her into the session she wouldn't be expecting-_

_**You were jerking off to her little banter about fear with you, quit trying to make excuses! **_The Scarecrow was fuming.

_Do not take that tone with me, let's not forget who is the one in control here, okay?_

_**If you think it is you then you are even more of a fool than the one you played today.**_

This was the last straw; Jonathan refused to take this kind of disrespect from anyone, not even the Scarecrow, he stormed into his office and slammed the door shut. With the determination of a thousand furies behind him, he ripped the third drawer from the bottom of his desk open, nearly pulling it right out of the wooden frame completely. He had had too much of a bad day to take this from _him_ as well!

_**Are we going to go through this again, Jonny boy? You know you don't have the balls to do this.**_

Jonathan refused to answer him, only yanked the white cap off of the pill bottle and poured the round green pills into the palm of his hand.

_**Enough of this charade, Jonathan! Just put the damned pills down and let's talk about this like adult-**_

Before the Scarecrow could even finish Jonathan had popped one of the pills into his mouth and dry swallowed it. The hard, dry substance burned his throat on the way down but he didn't care, he only smiled smugly at what he had just accomplished.

He had won.

* * *

><p><span>An:

Wow… this chapter was kinda long… oh well, better too long than too short I always say! I'm gonna try and make the next chapter a really long one as well.

Anywho...

Thanks so much for reading and for the reviews you guys, they mean the world to me!

And I want to address some of the stuff you said to me in them.

**Firespin98**, I suck at summaries, always have, always will. They are the toughest part of writing a story for me, thanks for still giving the fic a read even with my awful summarizing skills, lol.

**Nerdygirl**, you are absolutely right, she is total MarySue, and I kinda made her that way on purpose, like you said it's all about control and if she wasn't the way she is I just don't think it would flow right with where I want to take this story.

So I hope she isn't _too_ much MarySue so for you guys. If she ever gets to that evil point just let me know and I will tone it down a bit. I eventually want to take her character to a completely different place, style-wise, once I am fully into the storyline you will probably start to see some changes take place with Jessica and Crane as well.

Anywho, thanks again for reading, everybody. Seeing your reviews/alerts are truly the best part of my day. And just to give you a heads up, the next chapter will be of the NC-17 variety, so be forewarned.


	5. Side Effects May Vary

**Chapter Five – Side Effects May Vary**

* * *

><p>"Doctor Crane?" her sweet and subtle voice questioned as she got up from her seat on the couch in his office.<p>

"Yes, Miss Matthews?" he addressed as he watched her walk up to his desk, her paperwork held close to her chest almost protectively.

"Would you check these documents to make sure I filled them out correctly… please?" she never once made eye contact with him, just held the papers out expectantly.

Jonathan let out a frustrated sigh as he took the papers from her tiny hands; she made him feel like he was back at Gotham University, that he was the Professor and she his apple polishing little student.

_And what a fine teacher's pet you would make._

His eyes roamed her body as he thought this, taking in her thin white satin blouse and knee length black wool skirt.

_No tights today? How easy it would be for me to slide my hands up those shapely thighs and…_

"Of course I will look over your work, Miss Matthews." He cut his daydreaming short. "After all, that is why I am here, to teach you." He flashed a coy grin before turning his gaze to the paperwork in his hands.

She patiently awaited his criticism, biting nervously at her bottom lip the entire time.

"Miss Matthews…" he said in a dissatisfied tone while briskly flipping through the papers.

"Yes, Doctor Crane?" there were butterflies in her stomach as she anticipated his words.

"None of these are correct, they are completely wrong in fact!" he was outraged by her sudden carelessness, how dare she present him with this type of work.

"I… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fail you, I…" she sounded as if he had just shot her puppy in the face.

He said nothing in reply to this, just angrily threw her papers onto the top of his desk before leaning further back in his leather office chair.

"Come here, Miss Matthews." He commanded her, his jaw set tightly with irritation.

She immediately obeyed, walking around the desk to stand right in front of where he sat staring up at her with disdain.

"Good, now… get down on your knees." It was not a request, and the frightened look she sent told him she knew better than to disobey.

"Doctor Crane, I really am sorry I-" she practically sobbed while taking her time to get down on one knee and then the other.

"I don't want to hear anymore of your pathetic excuses, Miss Matthews!" he snapped at her before she could finish her sentence, he then leaned forward in his seat until they were face to face. "That's all that seems to come from that sweet little mouth of yours, one useless excuse after another!" he kept his eyes focused on hers the entire time, intimidating her as best he could with his stare.

She opened her mouth to speak but said nothing; apparently she decided it was best not to fuel his anger any further.

_Clever girl._

"Now…" he began to say, leaning back in his chair to how he was seated before. "I do believe I am going to have to teach you some discipline." To this her eyes widened with a mixture of fear and confusion.

"Discipline?" came her small and unsure query; he let a satisfied smile grow on his face.

"Yes, how will you learn if I do not correct you accordingly, Miss Matthews?" Oh how he was loving this game, it didn't matter if she was playing or not, he was. "Now, unfasten by belt."

It was as if all of the light had been drained from the room, as well as the color from her face. She just stared at him blankly, mouth agape as usual, completely lost in what was happening at the moment.

"I... I don't understand…" she stammered with dread at the thought of his intentions.

Jonathan took off his glasses and flung them onto his desk in the same frustrated manner he had flung her papers only moments ago. She was really starting to piss him off.

"Miss Matthews, please do not make me tell you twice." He rubbed his eyes as he reprimanded her. "You will find that I do not like repeating myself, and if I am ever made to do so the punishment will be much worse than anything I can make you do here and now." He then sent her a deadly look as he finished.

She didn't say another word, only brought her trembling fingers to his belt and began to fumble with the buckle loosening the ends from his pant's loops, she struggled to remove the prongs from their holes, tightening the belt a bit too tight, stealing a small amount of his breath. She looked up, and grimaced an apology, before continuing her task. It took her a few seconds, but she finally completed the task and then pulled her hands away from his crotch as quickly as possible, he couldn't help but let out a soft snort of laughter to this.

"Very good…" he was mocking her now. "But I am afraid our little lesson is far from done. Now, unzip my pants like a good girl." His tone had completely changed from stern and in control to almost light and satirical.

She shook her head from side to side in defiance, reminding him of a disobedient child, her wide innocent eyes further emphasizing this to him.

"Am I going to have to repeat myself?" there was a dangerous warning to his voice that made her even more nervous than she already was, causing her to anxiously chew on her bottom lip. His eyes carefully watched her teeth as they grinded against the delicate flesh of her lip, he grew impatient now. "Do as I say!" he practically shouted at her in a fierce predatory growl, she visibly jumped from fright at his change in temperament.

"Okay… alright…" she weakly muttered in submission as her hands shot back up to his pants, he had broken her.

_Finally, I knew it would be an easy task._

He spread his legs a little farther apart as her fingertips grasped the metal tab of his pants' zipper, she then hesitantly drug it downward, parting the metal teeth one by one. Once the job was finished she began to recoil her hands just as before, only this time he quickly reached out and grabbed her right wrist in his hand before she could escape.

"Not so fast, Miss Matthews… I think we can put this hand to good use, don't you?" he was back to his almost teasing mood again, and she was even more confused than before.

Without warning he shoved her right hand into the opening of his pants, causing her to unintentionally grasp him bare. She gasped loudly at the sudden realization of what she was holding in her hand, the taut, smooth skin of his erection.

"Good girl…" he cooed as he released his grip on her wrist, he then brought his hand up to unfasten the button at the waistline of his dress pants. "Now let's see how well you can follow direction." He undid the button and let out a satisfied sigh as all of him was finally freed from the tight confides of his slacks.

She made a subtle sound of disgust as she turned her face away from the sight of him, her hand still holding him in the same limp grasp the entire time, she was too afraid to even let go.

"What's the matter, Miss Matthews, you act as if you have never seen a hard on before?" it was a question that she wasn't meant to answer; he had only said it to break her even more. "Let's see how well you can use that little mouth of yours." His words caught her off guard and she shot her face back in his direction.

She was sending him that wounded little lost bunny look again; this of course only made him even harder in her hand.

"Come now, Miss Matthews, no need to be shy." His breath was heavier now, and his words came slower. "I'm sure you are going to excel in this department, what with those full lips of yours…" he licked his own lips once he said this, his eyes falling to her mouth only to linger there a mere moment before traveling to her chest. "Unbutton your blouse." He then commanded her, she began to release her grasp on his erection when he stopped her with his words. "No! Use your other hand."

His impatience was starting to get the better of him; he took a deep breath in attempt to calm himself. He watched intently as she began to unbutton her shirt with a shaky left hand, it was taking a little longer than he liked but he decided not to mention this. Once she was down to the last button he took the moment to enjoy the now unobstructed view of her small lace covered breasts.

_Damn brassiere. _

"Very good. Now back to the job at hand." He stated as she looked down to the floor with embarrassment; he couldn't help but grin at this. "I want you to wrap those full lips of yours around _me_." She looked back up at him with pure terror in her eyes, he was really getting off on this now. "Don't give me that pathetic look, Miss Matthews, just start sucking my cock!" he howled at her with anger and impatience to it all.

His furious tone caused her to whimper with fear as she unthinkingly scooted her kneeling body closer to him, he spread his legs even wider to allow her better access. Without another word said she tightly shut her eyes and leaned her face down to his crotch, she hesitated only a moment before placing his erection in her warm mouth. She slowly closed her mouth, wrapping both lips around him, grimacing at the thought of it.

"Good." He simply stated in praise, feeling his breath catch in his throat at the sudden sensation of her warmth around him. "Now, start sucking."

She then began to move her head up and down, letting her mouth and tongue slid along the length of him, her hand which held him at the base then began to move in rhythm with her mouth as well. He let out a gasping shudder of a breath as she then ran her wet tongue up the underside of his penis; he instantly brought his left hand to her head, unclasping the hairclip she wore there, allowing her long dark curls to fall in waves down her back. Jonathan buried his hand in her hair as she went back to her previous motion of moving her hand and mouth up and down him at a slow and steady pace.

"Mmmm…" he purred aloud with pleasure. "You're a _very_ good girl, Miss Matthews." he was very pleased with his little assistant now.

The speed and pressure in which she sucked him was almost agonizingly slow and drawn out, he couldn't figure out why he was enjoying the torture of it so much.

_Must be the masochist in me._

As she slid her mouth up him she stopped for only an instant to tease the tip of his penis with tip of her tongue, flicking it back and forth and causing him to arch his back and thrust his cock back into her mouth with almost gagging force, the hand on the back of her head not helping the situation any.

"Let's not tease…" he rasped in a singsong manner as she struggled not to choke with him against the back of her throat. "Good little girl's don't tease." It was an afterthought; he didn't even notice that he had said it aloud.

After overcoming her gag reflex she then returned to her usual speed, up and down, firm and slow. The hand that was wound tightly in her hair slackened, it was now gently massaging her scalp. Jonathan glanced down at her chest; it was the perfect angle to view her now visible cleavage, he reached his free hand down to cup her left breast through the white lace of her bra, he then slid his hand beneath the delicate fabric and squeezed her bare breast in his hand.

"Faster." He now demanded, his breathing even heavier than before, he could feel the heat starting to build at the base of his spine.

She instinctively quickened her pace, sucking him in long, hard strokes now, her hand moving faster than her mouth in an even tighter grip than before. He began to gasp with every stroke of her hand, every nerve in his body on edge as she drew him closer and closer to his release.

_Oh fuck yes!_

He was so close, his heart was pounding in his chest as the sweat began to bead on his forehead, her hot and moist mouth sending him to both heaven and hell at the same time. His hand that was once gently messaging her head was now twisting in her hair, pulling roughly at the silken locks; the pain from this only seemed to fuel her and she sped up. Her quickened rate proved to be more than he could bear as he let out a deep moan of pleasure, pouring into her mouth as he rode the exquisite waves of his orgasm to hell and back.

* * *

><p>Jonathan awoke suddenly to the sound of his alarm clock, his breath coming in quick, labored gasps. He looked down to see that he was in his own bed, shirtless and covered in sweat.<p>

"What the fuck…" he heavily breathed aloud into the darkness of his bedroom, had it all been a dream?

As he struggled to get his breathing under control he noticed the uncomfortable dampness of the sheets that were messily wrapped around him. The cold sweaty wetness from his dreaming caused him to shiver involuntarily; it was then that he realized there was more than sweat saturating his boxer shorts and sheets.

"Perfect." He hissed with annoyance as he reached over and shut the alarm off, he then flung the Egyptian cotton sheets from his body.

_It's like I'm fifteen years old again! This is all your fau-_

His thoughts were cut short by the sudden realization that his mind was oddly silent. He was alone in his head.

_Scarecrow?_

There was no answer.

Jonathan paused for a moment, sitting upright in the bed as he remembered the medication he had taken at the office the night before.

_Goddamn Haldol must still be in my system…_

He shrugged this off before making his way to the conjoined bathroom nearby. He flipped the water on in the shower stall before turning to the mirror atop the bathroom sink.

_Was the dream you coming through in my subconscious because of the drugs, or did I come up with that little scene all on my own? _He silently asked while staring hard into the mirror.

A thick fog began to form on the glass, stealing his reflection from him as it did so.

Jonathan let out a deep tired sigh before removing his boxers and stepping into the hot water of the shower. He let a groan of pleasure escape his lips as the scalding stream poured down onto his tired body; his mind then began to wander into a state of fantasy.

_Her soft skin, those full lips… how good they felt with her hot wet tongue wrapped around him, licking and sucking... _He let his hand slowly slide down his torso and finally come to rest at the base of his erection.

_No!_

He scolded himself instantly, snapping his thoughts out of the memory of the dream and back into the reality of the shower stall. His hand shot up immediately, no longer on his groin but now slammed firmly out in front of him against the shower's wall. What the hell was wrong with him all of a sudden?

_Wet dreams, practically jerking off in the shower… what am I some sexually repressed teenager?_

He was greatly annoyed with himself as he quickly finished his shower. Was this how he was without the Scarecrow there to nag him? If so he did not like this new version of himself, not one bit.

Once he was done in the bathroom he hurriedly dressed and gathered the things he would need for the workday ahead of him. As he grabbed his suitcase on the way out the front door he was suddenly shaken by the thought of seeing his assistant at the office. How would he act around her after the dream he had had last night?

_What am I worried about? It's not like she has telepathy and can see my thoughts! It was a dream, it meant nothing_. He reassured himself as he locked the door behind him.

The recesses of his mind were so cold and judgmental in their silence, he suddenly missed the Scarecrow.

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Dr. Crane." Her smiling face greeted him as soon as the elevator doors opened; he almost took a step back in surprise to see her there waiting.<p>

"Um, good morning Ms. Matthews." His unsure words dripped from his lips tiredly as he slowly made his way off of the elevator and down the hallway, she tagged along closely.

As he got to the locked door to his office he looked her small figure over while blindly searching his pockets for the key, she was wearing a white satin blouse accompanied by a knee length black wool skirt, no tights.

_What the? Am I dreaming now?_

"I decided to wait for you by the elevator since you had not arrived yet." She pointed out the obvious, this only added to his already brewing aggravation.

"Yes, I noticed that." He stated flatly, finally retrieving the key to the office door, he paused before unlocking it. "How are you today Ms. Matthews, recovering well from yesterday I hope?" It was meant to sound caring; of course it only came out mockingly.

"Oh, yes…" she seemed momentarily lost in thought; she had hoped to repress the entire matter and forget it had ever taken place, he wasn't letting her off that easy. "I am feeling much better, I am sorry if I worried you."

_Is she seriously apologizing to me for yesterday?_

"Not at all, Ms. Matthews. I am the one at fault for yesterday's events; I should have prepared you better before the session." He replied, turning his apology around to put the blame back on her shoulders. "Let's just forget the entire matter." He said while turning the key in the lock and finally opened the door to his office; she nodded mutely to this as he entered the room.

Jonathan sat his suitcase down beside his desk as she entered the room and closed the door behind herself. He typed his password into the work computer, bringing up his daily schedule… it looked like he had a busy day ahead of him, as usual. He opened the top drawer on his desk; he then began to noisily rummage through its contents in search of a pen.

"Ms. Matthews, could you please find the time to organize my desk drawers for me?" he idly asked his assistant before finally finding the desired pen. "They are quite a mess." He shut the drawer with a loud bang.

"Of course, Dr. Crane." She complied as always, neatly arranging the documents sat out in front of her on the nearby table, she had a lot of work to do as well today.

_Thank god it is Saturday; at least I will get a day off tomorrow to finally get some rest. _He thought as he sighed wearily, gathering his files and pen before turning and exiting his office, it was off to work.

He shut the door behind him as he made his way towards the elevator; there he was greeted by the presence of a familiar colleague.

"Ah, Dr. Crane." The voice of Hugo Strange slithered into his ears as he stepped up alongside the fellow doctor. "I noticed you were about five minutes late today, a first, I am sure of it." Strange then flashed him a crooked smile.

Jonathan almost cringed with fury.

"Yes, thank you for pointing that out Hugo." Came his cocky reply, never once letting his true annoyance show on his face. "Tell me, are you planning to keep a steady account of my comings and goings here at the asylum or are we just chatting?" he looked to Strange expectantly, he was coldly awaiting his answer.

Dr. Strange said nothing to this, only smiled wider at him before stepping onto the now open elevator, Jonathan grudgingly followed him on.

"How is your work going?" Strange asked in a serious manner once the elevator doors were shut and they were alone.

"There is a slight hitch in the process." Crane answered, his jaw clenched at the idea of things not going according to his design.

"What sort of hitch?" Hugo was interested now.

"I have been unable to successfully synthesize the plant base into a tolerable compound." Jonathan looked down at the floor; he was beginning to feel a painful twinge of failure. "No matter what I try it just doesn't seem to want to work for me."

"Hmmm…" Strange cooed thoughtfully. "Perhaps the answer lies in outside assistance." He finished, Jonathan's head shot up, an expression of outrage now on his face.

"Outside assistance!? This isn't a company Christmas party, Hugo! This is a very serious matter, life and death!" he spat with venom at the older doctor in the seclusion of the elevator car.

"And no one understands that better than I, Jonathan. Trust me." Strange sated him. "All I am suggesting is a fresh pair of eyes on the problem; they would never need know what was really happening with the operation."

Jonathan thought on this carefully, it did start to make sense to him.

_**Don't listen to this old fool, Jonathan! We don't need anyone else…**_

The Scarecrow had returned to him.

_He's right, they would never need to know all of the details, just enough to help solve the problem!_

_**Fine, but remember… I warned you.**_

The doors slid open and Strange was about to step off when Jonathan reached out and grabbed his upper arm, stopping him.

"Just remember, Hugo… if anyone finds out what is happing in the basement I will make you pay." His voice was a sinister whisper as he threatened the man in private. "You wouldn't want any of the other doctors to find out about your little _mind altering_ experiments, would you?"

Both doctors were silent for a moment.

"You can trust me, Jonathan… I'll never say a word." And with that last reassurance Crane released his grip on Strange's arm, allowing the man to finally exit the elevator.

Jonathan was now alone in the confines of the elevator car… or was he?

"Scarecrow?"He questioned softly aloud.

_**Yes, Jonathan?**_

_How long have you been back?_

_**What makes you think I ever left, dear Jonny boy?**_

He was fucking with him now.

_Do you remember this morning?_ Jonathan rolled his eyes at his alter's attempt to rattle him.

_**You mean that tasty little dream of yours, or the after party in the shower?**_

This did rattle the doctor.

_If you were there why didn't you say anything!?_

_**I couldn't, I was conscious but unable to come through in your mind… Maybe this will teach you to not play around with prescription drugs, Jonathan.**_

Crane sighed at this, the elevator doors finally opening to reveal the tenth floor of the asylum.

_Let's just get back to work and forget this whole business. _He stepped off the lift and began his steady pace down the hallway.

_**Jonathan?**_

_Yes?_ Crane asked as he flipped through his patient files at the tenth floor nurse's station.

_**I noticed that you made her a virgin, yet quite skilled at giving falletio… why is that?**_

The Scarecrow's words stopped Jonathan dead in his tracks, holding the file open in front of himself, eyes blank and mouth slightly agape.

_What? _He sounded so small in his own head.

_**If she had never even seen a man naked before then how would she have been so good at-**_

_It was a dream, goddamnit! It meant nothing! _He found himself silently screaming into the confines of his mind.

_**Relax, Jonathan. I didn't mean anything by it… just didn't know you had a type is all.**_

_Type? What type is that?_

_**Innocent but 'skilled'.**_ The Scarecrow was howling with laughter now.

Jonathan slammed the file shut in his hands; it was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>It was quarter to five, the work day was nearly over and she only had two drawers of the doctor's desk left to clean. It was odd but she really enjoyed organizing the simple contents of the desk drawers, a stack of papers here, some post-it note pads there… everything in its place.<p>

Jessica opened the second drawer from the floor on the left side of the desk, removing everything she found there and placing it on top of the desk to be organized by her. She quickly sorted through the papers and moved on to the smaller items, loose pens, a few stray paperclips and lastly a small orange tinted pill bottle with a white cap. She placed everything neatly back into the drawer with the exception of the pill bottle, that she decided to examine closely.

She idly bit down on her bottom lip while taking in the fact that there was no label on the bottle, what could be in it? She thought for a moment on whether or not to open it, but of course her curiosity won and she gently removed the white cap and placed it down on top of the wooden desk in front of her. As she gazed down into the now open bottle her mind raced with a thousand questions she could not answer, she then reached two thin fingers into the narrow cylinder and took out one of the green pills.

She closely examined the pill, it was small and round with _GG 125_ imprinted clearly on it, her psychopharmacology training then began to kick in and she instantly knew what the medication was. Jessica was confused now, why would Dr. Crane have an antipsychotic medication unlabeled in his desk drawer?

Without warning the door to the office was loudly slammed shut, she quickly turned to the unwelcome sound, jumping with fright as she did so. There Dr. Crane stood in the now closed doorway of his office, his eyes glued to the open pill bottle in her hands, a furrowed expression of disapproval printed on his face.

"Dr. Crane, I… I didn't expect you back this soon… I…" she stammered nervously as he slowly moved towards her, his eyes now making contact with hers, the angered look he wore never once changing. "I was just cleaning your desk like you asked me too." She then explained innocently, too worried about his mood to remember to hide the bottle in her hands.

He was right in front of her now, so close he could hear every panicked breath she took. He stared her in the eyes for a moment longer before dropping his gaze back down to the bottle she grasped, noticing the single green pill she held in her other hand as he did.

"Does opening my things and disturbing my privacy count as cleaning my desk drawers, Ms. Matthews?" his voice was quiet but in no way gentle, it was very apparent that he was upset with her.

"No, I didn't mean… I wasn't trying to… I…" she shook her head back and forth as she failingly made excuses for her actions, the look he gave causing her brain to turn to mush with anxiety.

He said nothing to her rambles, just reached out and snatched the bottle from her hands and then quickly removed the cap from atop the desk and secured it back on the bottle in one fluid motion. As he turned to walk away from her, slipping the bottle into his suit-coat pocket, his mind raced with a menagerie of things he could do to her at that moment.

_Torture is definitely not out of the question._

_**Most definitely not! Come on Jonathan, let me play with her? Pleeaasse.**_ The Scarecrow begged like a three year old with a new toy, Jonathan held back a smile.

"Dr. Crane?" her small voice stopped him where he stood, a smart person would have remained silent; what with getting off so light with him… clearly she was not very smart. "Why do you have a prescription bottle full of Haloperidol in your desk?" it came out so innocently, yet it angered him more than if she had walked up and slapped him the face.

Without warning he whipped his body around and dove at her, the sudden acceleration of his movements completely taking her off guard. Jessica released a sharp gasp of shock as her back instantly collided with the top of the doctor's desk, his right hand now tightly gripping her throat. He loomed over her, their eyes locking with one another's, she was too terrified to register the fact that he had somehow positioned himself between her spread legs as he held her pinned down on top of his desk.

"Why do you think I would have a bottle of Haloperidol in my desk, Ms. Matthews?" he hissed the words through gritted teeth as he tightened his grasp on her neck, this caused her to exhale a wheezing whimper in response.

He could feel himself starting to lose control on the situation, that old familiar darkness was creeping up on him… the Scarecrow was near.

_**Just let go, Jonathan. Let me take over. It would be so easy… just let me have her! **_His darker half was seducing him now.

Jonathan heard him but chose not to answer, only looked down into the frightened face of his assistant; he leaned in closer in attempt to further examine her fear. His pale eyes roamed her face, taking in every micro-expression, a twitch here, a lip quiver there… those lips, how he wanted to thrust his own against them. He flicked the thumb of his right hand upward beneath her chin, never releasing her throat as he did so, his thumb now tilted her head upwards bringing her face ever closer to his.

"You never answered my question, Ms. Matthews." His tone was even now, almost calm compared to the fury of a moment before.

"I… I don't know… I'm sorry; I shouldn't have looked in the bottle." She was shaking beneath his grasp now, and he couldn't help but feel his breath quickening with every trembling word she gave him. "I don't know why I looked in it… I just…" she trailed off with a sobbing gasp as he squeezed her neck harder for a split second, almost cutting off her airflow as he did just for fun.

"You were just so overcome with curiosity, am I right?" he was toying with her now, the way a cat toyed with a mouse before the kill. This was not Scarecrow playing however, this was purely Jonathan.

_**Looks like someone is having fun with his new little pet.**_ The Scarecrow could barely contain himself as he teased.

"No… I… I…" she was cut short again by the force of his long fingers clasping firmer around her thin neck and she let out another whimpering sound which almost caused him to elicit a moan.

He was squeezing too tightly now, she was beginning to struggle against him ever so slightly. As she began to twist her hips against him in an attempt to free herself from his grip Jonathan couldn't hold back any longer, he let a soft groan escape his lips. It was subtle and breathless, but still he had lost his composure, and this annoyed him greatly. He clamped his left hand down onto her right hip, holding her steadily in place against his desk, using enough force to keep her entire lower half from moving; she was going to have so many bruises in the morning.

_**Just do it already, Jonathan, take what you want! It's so easy! Hike up that skirt with your free hand and rip aside those panties… fuck her and get it over with already so we can get back to work in the basement!**_

The Scarecrow's words made him dizzy, he had to close his eyes and take a deep breath just to steady himself atop her. He was right, it would be so easy…

_No… I am not a rapist._

_**What are you talking about? She wants this, look at her!**_

His eyes opened lazily as he stared down at her frightened form, her eyes were teary and her hands were held out in front of her in a weak defensive pose. This wasn't right.

"Please, Dr. Crane…" her whispering words pulled him from his internal struggle.

_**See, she's begging you for it now!**_

"Please…" her words came again, Jonathan couldn't help but look down at her questioningly. "Don't hurt me." She finished softly, this was the deciding blow.

He released his hold on her neck, leaning upwards as he did so, removing his weight from atop her so she could move more freely. Lastly he withdrew his hand that was held firmly on her hip, he rather begrudged having to do this gesture the most.

She sat up slowly, sending him a confused and questioning look as she did, was this a trick or was he finished with her?

"I would leave now if I were you, Ms. Matthews." He swallowed hard after the words left his mouth, she only continued to stare at him unsurely. "Go home." He said flatly, turning away from her shaky form.

Without another word she scrambled off of the desk's top and rushed to the closed office door, she paused a moment to look back at the doctor's turned back before opening it and practically running from the room.

He heard the sound of the door slamming; this caused him to look in the direction of his office's door.

_My god, she even closed the damn thing behind her!_ He was flabbergasted, what was this girl's problem?

_**Perhaps you should have a seat Jonny boy… and try to think sobering thoughts.**_

_What the hell are you talking about?_ Jonathan snapped silently, his annoyance level was high now.

The Scarecrow said nothing, only directed the doctor's gaze downwards towards the crotch of his pants. It seemed he was standing at full attention.

_Jesus Christ… will this day ever end!_

He folded the jacket of his suit across himself before carefully having a seat in his desk's chair.

_Well, at least one good thing came from all of this._

_**You finally hit puberty?**_

_No! I am talking about the fact that our little assistant will most definitely not be coming back on Monday morning; this little episode has most likely scared her to death._

_**I wouldn't celebrate so quickly if I were you, doctor. This one is far from predictable.**_

* * *

><p><span>An:

This was a long one, thanks to everyone for bearing through it with me.

And I'm just gonna say this now, I hate writing the naughty bits. I _hate_ it.

Doesn't mean I'm not gonna do it, of course! But I just don't get how everyone else has such a good time writing it. I get so hypercritical of my writing whenever I have to do it!

Anyway, just had to get that off my chest. If you notice that I suck at writing this stuff, well there is the reason why.

Also, I try to submit to this story two or three chapters at a time, mainly because I have to walk to the local library to submit and it takes me a while. I like to give you guys a bit more than just one chapter, something to hold you over while you wait for the next update. Hopefully I will be able to afford a new laptop or computer soon, then the submission process will be much more accommodating for me.

So, review as always, and thanks for reading!


	6. Sycophant

**Chapter Six – Sycophant**

* * *

><p>Surprisingly, he had had a rather nice day off. No worries about work, the operation or that pesky assistant of his. In truth, the one thing Jonathan really needed the day off from was all the thoughts he kept having about Ms. Matthews, the way she looked, the way she smelled, her constant need to please…<p>

_**Oh, and let's not forget about how good she felt beneath you, Jonny boy. I remember you thinking about that quite a bit.**_

Jonathan rolled his eyes at the Scarecrow's words, what the hell did he know about how he felt?

The elevator doors opened, revealing the second floor of the asylum to him, Ms. Matthews was nowhere in sight.

_So far so good, I told you Saturday's episode in my office would do the trick. _

The Scarecrow said nothing but was clearly unimpressed by the doctor's hypothesis.

Jonathan was enjoying the silence of the morning as he turned his key in the lock of his office door; he hadn't had a Monday this peaceful in quite some time. As he heard the lock click the door open he was then distracted by the soft sound of footsteps behind him.

_You have got to be kidding me._

"Good morning, Dr. Crane." Her sweet greeting broke through the silence he was so enjoying a moment before, though he knew it was inevitable, Jonathan still visibly winced at the unwelcome sound of her voice.

"Good morning, Ms. Matthews." His tone was flat and devoid of any and all emotion, he didn't even bother turning around to face her as he spoke, only pushed the office door open with perhaps a bit more force than was needed.

The Scarecrow was cackling with amusement as Jonathan stepped to the side, allowing her to enter the office before him, which she cautiously did, he then followed her in and shut the door securely behind them.

_**Look who's back, eh?**_

_Shut up! All I want to do at this moment is grab her by her skinny little neck and slam her up against that wall!_

_**And then what, hmmm?**_ The Scarecrow teased.

_I said shut up!_ Jonathan was having none of it; he was simply not in the mood for his games.

"Is everything alright, Dr. Crane?" her words came out unsurely, as if she were almost afraid to ask him this.

He looked up at her blankly, suddenly releasing he had been glaring angrily at the floor's carpet the entire time he was having his little exchange in his head. He swallowed hard before speaking.

"Yes, Ms. Matthews, I am fine." The look he was sending her now said otherwise. "How are you this morning?" he cocked his head slightly to the side while staring her down intently, clearly he was annoyed with her.

"I.. I am fine as well." She quickly shifted her gaze from his eyes to the floor, even through the lenses of his glasses the doctor's intense blue stare proved too much for her to handle.

There was a long moment of silence between them; feeling as if it dragged on for hours.

"Ms. Matthews, would you like to accompany me to the basement this morning?" it was such an odd request she could hardly believe he had said it at all, but when she returned her gaze to his face he was waiting expectantly for her response.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Crane?" Jessica questioned with utter confusion.

"There is something there that I think you should see." His words changed nothing about her confused and hesitant demeanor; he decided to take another approach. "I have been working on a rather complex experiment involving fear and the chemical properties of the mind, I only suggested that you join me because I thought it would be something you would be interested in, what with you working on your thesis-" he could barely finish his sentence before she cut in.

"Yes! I would love to see your work, doctor, I mean if you really want me to." She was so excited now, her mood that of a child being told she could visit the carnival.

"Excellent, let me clear my schedule and then we shall begin." He let that clever grin play on his lips as he pacified her with his words.

_**Really, Jonathan… for me? And it's not even our birthday.**_ The Scarecrow was practically jumping for joy in his mind.

* * *

><p>Jonathan stepped onto the empty elevator car, his assistant following closely behind. Once they were both on he removed the set of keys from the pocket of his suit-coat and slid the smallest one into the keyhole at the bottom of the elevator's control pad, giving it a quick turn before returning the set back to his pocket.<p>

Jessica casually kept her distance from the doctor, even in the tight confines of the lift car; he of course picked up on this.

_**Why so shy? Hmmm, little mouse?**_

Jonathan eyed her closely for a few moments, always making sure to look away just as her gaze traveled to him, he suddenly felt so immature.

_What is this? Junior High?_

The elevator lurched to a stop as it made its way to the bowels of the asylum, the doors then slid open and their awkward ride was over.

"This way, please." Was all of the recognition he gave her as he walked briskly out of the elevator and took a sharp right once he was on the basement's floor.

She silently followed him, trying to stay as close as possible while managing to keep a respectful distance, she of course failed miserably when he came to an abrupt stop and she nearly walked right into his back.

"I need you to promise me that you will tell no one of what you see, nor of what I am doing down here in the basement." He said ominously as he turned to face her. "Do you understand me, Ms. Matthews?" he narrowed his stare on her to further emphasize the seriousness of his words.

"Yes, of course, Dr. Crane." She complied, both curious and confused as to why he would need to be so secretive of his work.

He nodded silently to her in agreement before removing his set of keys once again; he turned his back on her and unlocked the old metal door that lay before them. The door opened with an abrasive rusty creak, he returned the keys to his pocket before blindly reaching inside the darkened room and flipping on the nearby light switch, the florescent lights overhead flickered wildly before finally coming completely on.

Jessica blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the new light; she then took a second to survey her new surroundings as she followed the doctor into the room. It was old, obviously a part of the asylum that had not undergone any renovations in decades, the smell of mildew and medical cleansers filled her nostrils as she took a deep, apprehensive breath. He looked back at her in that moment, the sound of her heavy breathing quickly catching his attention; she was too busy studying the old restraint table in the middle of the room to notice him step behind her and shut the door.

She let out a loud gasp as she jumped at the sound of the door being suddenly shut, she then whipped around to see Dr. Crane standing behind her, the shadows of the poorly lit room causing his face to appear both sinister and darkly handsome at the same time. She visibly blushed at her growing thoughts about him and his appearance.

"You should feel honored, Ms. Matthews, not many people have been invited to this room." His tone was flat and cold as he slowly took a step closer to her, their bodies were now mere inches apart.

"I.. I am very grateful that you would bring me here, Dr. Crane… thank you." She didn't even know what she was thanking him for, at the moment all she could seem to do was move her eyes from one object in the room to the next, trying her best not to look him in the eye as she spoke.

Jonathan couldn't help but smile at this; she was just so amusing to him.

_**Is it my turn to play yet, Jonathan? Let me play with her!**_ The Scarecrow's impatience was starting to become a problem now.

_Not yet! We have to take certain precautions; we don't want her telling the world about what is going on here_.

As her attention wandered quickly from one thing to the next in the room, Jessica suddenly noticed the small box of dried blue flowers resting on the nearby lab table to her left. Without another word spoken she walked over to the table and gently removed one of the blooms from the box, Jonathan eyed her closely as she began to the twirl the flower in her hand by its twig like stem.

"Do you know what that is?" it was another odd question from him, but this time she was too preoccupied by the plant in her hand to even notice the peculiarity of his words.

"It appears to be in the Papaveraceae family." She answered still enthralled by the flower, when she finally did look up to meet his stare she saw the apparent confusion on his face. "It is a poppy." She said finally, clearing up any uncertainty he was feeling.

_**Wow, doctor… you mean she knows more about something than you do?**_

"You have studied botany I take it?" he questioned her sternly now, she nodded mutely while continuing to twirl the flower between her thin fingers. "I never considered the study of plants to be crucial in acquiring a psychology degree." He added snidely, a poor attempt on his part to regain the upper hand of the conversation.

"Well, it is when you get into the more chemistry related points of psychopharmacology." She said in a sweet tone, trying to take the bite away from her smart reply.

_Is she arguing with me, or is this some subtle battle to see who is better versed in psychopharmacology?_

"Well, since you are so well informed in flora, perhaps you could help me with a problem I have been having." He asked in the same petulant tone as before, her face perked up to this, obviously eager to assist him in his work. "I cannot seem to successfully adapt a compound of the flower into a base that can be added to water and later vaporized and then absorbed into the lungs."

She furrowed her brow as she thought hard on his problem; he took this short moment to notice how cute she looked when she was so deep in thought.

_**Don't tell her too much, Jonny boy… remember, this could come back to bite us both in the ass.**_

Jonathan silently heeded the Scarecrow's warning but was still interested in hearing what his little assistant had to say on the subject.

_Who knows, maybe she is the fresh pair of eyes we need on this._

_**Doubtful.**_

"I can think of several ways you can adapt the plant so that it can be successfully absorbed through digestion, but inhalation without combustion that can be reconstituted in water, well that is a little trickier." She seemed to say to herself aloud rather than to him.

"Now you see my quandary." He was looking her up and down while she thought the matter over, too lost in the puzzle to even remember he was in the room.

"Can I have a day or two to research this, then get back to you with my answer?" she innocently inquired, he only grinned coldly before responding.

"Take all the time you need, but I will let you know that I have been battling with this problem for the past three and a half weeks and I have come to no positive conclusion." The smugness dripped from his voice like acid but she still didn't pick up on any of it. "Perhaps you will be more successful than I."

"Can I keep the flower for my research." She then held up the dried blue plant in her hand.

"Yes, you _may _keep the flower, Ms. Matthews." He answered her childish question, putting emphasis on the word 'may' so that she would feel even more immature than he already believed she was.

"Thank you, Dr. Crane." she said timidly, blushing slightly at his correction of her words as she placed the flower in the small side pocket of her cotton button up blouse.

There was a new silence between them now, somehow even more awkward than before. Jonathan decided to make use of the uncomfortable moment, taking a few steps closer, bridging the gap that was between them until he was standing right in front of her.

_Enough business, time to play._

"I was wondering, Ms. Matthews, if you would like to discuss any of your phobias with me. I am after all a trained professional in this department." He said finally, breaking the quietness of the room.

"I already explained about my arachnophobia…" she began to say, this was not what he wanted to hear from her.

"Actually, I was referring more to your belonephobia." He quickly interjected, her face instantly scrunched in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Crane, but I don't suffer from belonephobia." She answered surely, was she playing games with him now or was she truly unaware of her fear of needles?

"I saw the way you reacted to the hypodermic needles a few days ago; I know that you fear them." His tone was hushed now as he leaned in closer to her while he spoke, his voice causing the tiny hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.

Jessica couldn't help but shudder in response to his words, trying her best to remain calm and compose the proper reply to him in her mind. Things were just so confusing at the moment and she suddenly felt too uneasy, it could have been the topic of their discussion or perhaps that fact that he was so close to her now that she could feel his warm breath on her skin. All she wanted to do was shrink away and disappear inside of herself until he was gone or the subject was changed.

"I do not have belonephobia, Dr. Crane." She finally repeated in a soft whisper, he sternly looked her in the eyes now, lowering his head slightly to get a better view of her hazel gaze, unknowingly bringing his lips only centimeters away from hers.

Was this some sort of defiance she was now showing him, or did she honestly believe this? He was so perplexed and annoyed by her now.

_If she tells me she doesn't have belonephobia one more time I am going to shove needles in her pretty little eyes until she screams that she does!_

_**Now we are talking, Jonny boy! Finally, something fun for me to do!**_

"I…" she began but then stopped herself, he raised an eyebrow questioningly at her, ready to strike if she lied to him again. "I have trypanophobia, not belonephobia." She finished, turning her face from his slightly once she became aware of how close they were, he couldn't help but stare down at her with a look of utter disbelief.

"Trypanophobia…" the word slowly escaped his lips, she nodded gently to this.

"Yes, I have no fear of knives or sewing needles, only hypodermic needles and other medical implements." She said while slowly taking a few steps backwards, creating a comfortable distance between their bodies, comfortable until she felt something cold and hard ram into her back.

She let out a subtle oomph as her back collided with the lab table behind her, Jessica then looked down to examine the offending structure, too distracted to notice the doctor had made his way over to a table to the right of the room.

He opened the closest drawer on the lab table he now stood before, taking out a single sterile packaged syringe and single packaged 20 gauge needle tip before shutting the drawer back. He kept his back to her the entire time he opened the two items and assembled them silently, screwing the needle onto the tip of the plastic syringe as a deviant grin spread across his face.

_**Yes, let us gas her and then let me introduce her to that hyperemic needle, we'll see if her precious desensitization theory really works.**_

_We cannot gas her._ Jonathan then alerted his darker half, this caused rage to flow through the Scarecrow.

_**What! Of course we can!**_

_No… I left the mask upstairs by mistake._

_**Well then go and get it, damnit!**_

_Oh, sure… I can just see it now 'excuse me Ms. Matthews while I run upstairs and fetch my mask so I can gas you with my fear toxin', I'm sure that will work out beautifully._

_**Then inject her with it! **_

This idea had not occurred to the doctor, it was as if a light bulb had just went off in his mind and he was very grateful to his alter for that. He reached out and opened the small overhead refrigerator against the wall and removed one of the tiny liquid filled glass vials that were housed there.

He swiftly inserted the needle into the vial's well and withdrew the appropriate amount of toxin, a slight feeling of glee washing over him as he put the vial back in the fridge. He turned to face her now, carefully hiding the needle from view behind his back as he did so, he was surprised to find her with her back to him, too distracted by whatever she was now holding in her hands.

_**What the hell is she doing now?**_

As she turned towards him he quickly noticed the large white lab rat she was holding gently in her hands as if it were a pet, she then began to mutter inaudibly to the small creature while petting it.

_You have got to be kidding me._

Jonathan was trapped in a strange limbo somewhere between annoyed and flabbergasted by her actions.

"What do you think you are doing, Ms. Matthews?" he tried to hold back the disdain in his voice but he was beginning to lose his iron grip on his self control.

"He is just so cute, I couldn't help it." Was all she had to say for herself, continuing to baby the albino rodent in her hands the entire time she spoke. "Does he have a name?" she then asked the doctor, he couldn't stop looking from the rat's empty open cage on the table to her hands, why was she holding his lab specimen like a pet?

"Name?" he seemed to be completely lost now. "Why would it have a name, it is a lab rat not a poodle!" he let the disdain sound boldly in his voice now, composure be damned, she was really starting to annoy him now.

For a moment she appeared to be hurt by his words, but she quickly shook this off while focusing her attention back on the little ball of fur in her hands, the soft smile returning to her face as she did.

"I think I will name you then." She said in a gentle voice as she held the rat up to her face, acting as if she were having a private conversation with the animal.

He couldn't take anymore of this nonsense; he slowly closed his eyes and let the welcoming darkness in, relinquishing control to the Scarecrow.

_**That's it Jonathan… let me take over…**_

The Scarecrow opened his eyes, relishing the power he now had over his limbs as he began to take small steps towards the doctor's unsuspecting assistant.

"I will name you… Archimedes." She concluded, lowering the rat from her view, now cradling it in her hands as she gently rocked it back and forth like an infant, she had no clue what was in store for her.

_Archimedes? Who names a rat after a Greek physicist?_

_**I don't have time for these questions, Jonathan; I am a little busy here.**_

He stepped up close to her, she met his gaze for a brief moment before he lowered his attention to the lab rat she held, he then reached out and began to gently pet the creature with his right hand, his left still strategically hidden behind his back. She watched his hand as it slowly stroked the rat's white fur; it seemed that the doctor had finally softened from his usual cold nature, that was until his long fingers came to rest at the rat's tiny neck. She let out a sudden shriek of horror as she watched him harshly twist the rodent's small neck in one quick and fluid motion, the crude subtle cracking sound filling her ears and scaring her memory as he broke the rat's neck.

He let his eyes travel up to hers, she was still staring down at the limp little carcass in her trembling hands, her mouth widely agape in shock, he grinned manically at this.

_Was that really necessary? _The doctor asked from the back of his mind.

_**Hey, you're the one that wanted her to stop playing with the damned thing!**_

_I know, but she had just named it, somehow it just seems so…_

_**What?**_

_Cruel. _

The Scarecrow suppressed the laughter he was now feeling.

_**Why Doctor Crane, you surprise me with your sudden sensitivity, how adorable of you. **_With this he let the laughter he was holding in out, it mockingly echoed through his mind.

_Fuck you._

The Scarecrow visibly rolled his eyes to this, he then looked back at the face of the doctor's assistant just as she slowly raised her head up to look him in the eyes, both shock and confusion consumed her expression now.

"Wha… Why?" Was all she could seem to emit to him, her lips starting to quiver almost violently now.

"Why? Why do you think, my darling?" he allowed the satisfied smile to linger on his lips, his tone filled with sarcasm as she shook her head back and forth in bewilderment to his words. "Shall I spell it out for you then?" he took another step closer to her and she instantly recoiled, her back pressing against the lab table behind her, she was clutching the dead rat to her chest now protectively. "I did it because it was fun." He slowly drew out each word for a desired effect, that effect of course being the fear she was obviously feeling towards him.

"Fun?" she said the word as if she did not know its meaning. "How could killing a poor defenseless creature be fun to you?" she just couldn't understand what he had meant by this.

He did not answer her question, only reached out and snatched the limp body from her hands and carelessly flung it onto the nearby lab table. She turned her head away from him as she watched the rat's corpse fall crudely onto the tabletop near its open and empty cage, when she did finally turn to face him again her eyes were filled with tears.

"Aww, are we going to cry over spilt milk now?" he mocked her in a childish voice, causing the tears to pour from her eyes and down her flustered cheeks. "Poor little Jessica." He cooed with fake sympathy as he gently ran the back of his hand down the left side of her face, she let out a hiccupping sob as he did this. "Did I just kill your only friend?" he was enjoying this all too much, the smile on his face growing wider by the second.

She seemed to ignore his question as she continued to cry quietly to herself. The Scarecrow let out a harsh sigh of annoyance as he brought his right hand up to his face; he then removed the doctor's glasses and folded then against his chest before placing them neatly inside his suit-coat's inner breast pocket.

"Well, if you aren't going to play…" he then said tiredly, withdrawing his left hand from his back and bringing the uncapped hypodermic needle he held into her view. "Then I am just going to have to make my own fun." he then pushed down slightly on the syringe's plunger, allowing a tiny amount of liquid to escape the needle's tip.

Her eyes widened almost immediately at the sight of the needle he was holding so closely to her neck, her breathing now labored and heavy as she began to instinctively inch her body away from his to the center of the room.

"Aww, where are you going, little Miss Matthews?" he cooed tauntingly as he turned towards the new direction she appeared to be blindly headed in. "I thought we were just starting to get to know one another!" he said with mock hurt, he then began to step towards her.

She reacted instantly to this, practically falling backwards into the restraint table that was now directly behind her, all she wanted to do at this moment was flee. The Scarecrow's quick stride caught up with her in no time and he once again had her pinned against the table just as moments before, the only difference now was that she was pressed with her back against something he could strap her down to need the occasion call for it.

_This is going well._ Jonathan purred to his darker side.

_**Yes…**_ The Scarecrow was looking her figure up and down now, licking his lips once he was through_**. I am rather hoping she puts up a fight.**_

_Doubtful._

It was all becoming too much for her to handle now; she was suddenly awash with the overabundance of everything that was happening. She couldn't help but stand there rigidly while her brain took it all in, the feeling of the hard metal of the restraint table's edge digging into the swell of her back, the sight of the hypodermic needle that inched closer with her every thundering heartbeat. It was as if her senses were beginning to overload with panic.

The Scarecrow immediately noticed her worsening state of terror, he drew in a deep staggering breath as he basked in the pleasure that her fear gave him.

_**God, it's like Christmas morning… or at least what I imagine Christmas morning was like for all those brats that actually got presents.**_

_Unlike us_. Jonathan drearily added, a slight twinge of pain hitting him deep in his gut at the sudden surfacing of old emotional scars.

_**Cheer up Jonny boy, I'll make her scream just for you.**_

"What's the matter, Jessica darling? Is your _trypanophobia_ starting to get the better of you?" he teased cruelly, he then brought the needle up to her face in one quick and threatening motion, causing her to let out a sharp squeak of a scream as she practically jumped backwards onto the restraint table.

At that moment his right hand shot out and grabbed her firmly by the throat, she choked out a gasp of shock as he leaned his face in closer to hers.

"Oh come on now, Jessie dear, I know you have a better scream in you than that pathetic little _mouse squeak_!" he hissed at her, their lips brushing ever so slightly as he spoke.

Their eyes met in that moment, hers watery and filled with fear, his bright and drunk with control. She opened her mouth to expel a plea for her safety only to find that no sound escaped her lips, she was literally silenced by her fear of him. Her mouth hung open shakily, he looked her face over as he realized her predicament, she was scared mute.

_Looks like she will not be giving you that scream you asked for after all._

The Scarecrow was too caught up in her fear of him to even listen to the doctor, let alone answer him. He hadn't even needed to give her the toxin to elicit this level of terror from her, just the mere threat of sticking her with the needle and she was too frightened to even speak or move. This sudden realization sent a new and overpowering feeling of heat and euphoria throughout his entire body, all of it finally coming to rest in his groin. In that instant he hungrily thrust his lips against her parted mouth, her eyes widened in surprise and disbelief as he began to kiss her roughly.

_What in the hell are you doing!?_ Jonathan couldn't believe what has happening, this was definitely new behavior from his alter.

The Scarecrow did not respond, too caught up in what he was doing to even care.

_Stop this! I said stop now!_ The doctor demanded, still there was no response.

His hand around her throat tightened, causing her to gasp and part her lips wider, he used this moment to force his tongue into her mouth and deepen his kiss. Her body was trembling violently against him and the restraint table now, completely overtaken by fear. There was then a sudden clinking noise as the hypodermic needle fell to the floor, he had dropped it. A small feeling of relief washed over her but was quickly stolen away as she felt his now free left hand clasp firmly onto her hip; he then began to grind his own hips into hers rhythmically with his assault on her mouth.

_If you do not stop this then I will stop it for you!_ Jonathan threatened to deaf ears.

She started to struggle against him now, her hands pressing into his chest, trying their best to push him away from her but failing miserably for it did not seem to faze him one bit. As a last resort she bit down roughly onto his tongue, he let out a muffled scream as the taste of his blood filled her mouth. He broke from her in that instant; ceasing his movements against her as he brought the hand on her hip up to his mouth, when he brought his hand away from his lips he was greeted by the sight of blood on his finger tips.

Anger surged through him as he squeezed her throat even tighter now with his right hand, blood dripped from her swollen lips as she gasped and wheezed with every impossible breath. The Scarecrow watched with pleasure as she slammed her eyes shut, her face was now starting to turn red with loss of oxygen, he let a smile play on his lips. His right hand loosened slightly, just enough to allow her one easy breath before clamping back down on her windpipe and cutting off her air supply again.

"Having fun, my darling?" he mused as she struggled against him for air. "Maybe this will teach you, good girls don't bite." He released his hold on her neck all together as he finished his sentence; she immediately began coughing and gasping in air.

He waited until she was done, idly watching as she got her breathing under control and almost back to normal, he then brought his right hand back up to her throat only this time he snaked it upwards onto the back of her neck and into her hair. He roughly pulled at her hair, causing it spill from its done-up position and pool around his fist, he then pulled harder, tugging her head back awkwardly as she let out a groan of discomfort.

"Now…" he said, bringing his face back to hers. "Where were we?" he pressed his hips back against hers, his arousal fueled now not by her fear but his dominance over her.

Jessica shuddered at the feeling of him against her, he was hard and digging into her pelvis.

"Please sto-" her plea was cut short as he pressed his mouth atop hers yet again, resuming the heated kiss from before.

He slid his tongue back into her mouth, he then hesitated for a moment before renewing his assault, she let in the coppery taste of him, knowing better than to dare bite him again… he might kill her this time if she did.

_I am growing impatient now!_ Jonathan warned in a futile attempt to make him stop what he was doing.

_**Oh, so am I…**_ The Scarecrow practically moaned back to the doctor, now grinding his erection hard into her hips.

She let out a whimper which was swallowed by his open mouth, his kiss now savage and demanding.

_That's it, this has gone on long enough! _

Jonathan was through playing the Scarecrow's little games.

His movements against her stopped abruptly, his left hand firmly holding her hips to his and his mouth open and pressed against hers. Perhaps he should have timed taking back control a little better; he was now left with a raging hard on and his tongue in her mouth.

_**Now what are you going to do, eh, smart guy? **_

Jonathan stood there in the exact same position, his breathing labored as he tried to ignore the throbbing ache between his legs. She stayed perfectly still, pinned between him and the table behind her, frightened and awaiting whatever horrors laid ahead. He tried thinking of something, anything other than her warm body pressed against him, he was failing however.

_Oh fuck it, what does it matter anymore…_

With that last thought he began to massage his injured tongue against hers, slow and gentle, teasing her mouth as he now kissed her. She braced herself, fearing the assault to begin again, only this time it was different, it was as if she was being kissed by a completely different man than before. Confusion overwhelmed her as she felt his hand on her hip slid upwards to rest at the swell of her back, what was happening?

He was no longer pulling at her hair but gently cradling the back of her head as he continued to kiss her, the hand at the swell of her back now pushing her upper body against his. She softly pressed the palm of her hands against his chest, he had expected her to try to shove him off of her like before, this time however she did not.

_**I don't get it Jonathan, I'm not allowed to fuck her but you are? Please explain this level of reasoning to me!**_

_Because… this is different…_ He answered with distraction as he continued to kiss his assistant.

_**Different how? Different because you are a gentle lover and I just want to split her in two with my cock?**_

_Damn you… not now!_

He deepened his kiss as he sped up the pace, holding her body close to his, he didn't even care that she wasn't responding to his ministrations. She whimpered into his mouth, or was it more of a moan? She was becoming dizzy all of a sudden, nothing made any sense anymore, she didn't even realize that she had begun to brush her tongue against his. But Jonathan did realize and the sensation of her kissing him back proved to be too much to handle at that moment. He released a shuddering gasp into her mouth before finally pulling away from her; she let out a small sound of protest as their lips parted from one another.

He looked her in the eyes questioningly; she only stared back blankly in confusion to the situation.

_**What's the matter, Jonny boy? Did reality get the better of you or can you only perform if she's not willing**_? The Scarecrow taunted bitterly, Jonathan chose to ignore him.

He blindly reached into the inner pocket of his suit-coat and removed his glasses; he then unfolded them and placed them neatly onto his face before returning his hand back to his pocket and withdrawing his pristine white handkerchief. He brought the white cloth to his lips and began to roughly wipe the small amount of blood that remained there from when she had bit him. Jessica silently watched the display with curious fascination, she was then shocked when once the doctor was done wiping his lips he brought the napkin to her own and began to wipe them clean as well.

He used less force then he had when cleaning his own lips, with her he was almost gentle and reserved. She was extremely confused now, five minutes ago she was sure he was going to either rape or kill her, perhaps both… now he was back to his usual controlled and rigid self.

"We should go back upstairs, the other staff will start to wonder where we are." He said finally with no emotion to his tone as he returned the handkerchief to his inner breast pocket.

"I… um.." she began to stammer out in response, Jonathan seemed to completely ignore the fact that she was speaking to him, or rather attempting to speak to him.

"You should fix your hair back before we return, Ms. Matthews." He idly commanded her, he then reached down to the floor and picked up the fallen hypodermic needle that rested there.

Jessica watched his movements closely, not exhaling once while he held the needle in his hand, but this time he did not use it to frighten her like before he instead walked away from her towards the lab table to the right of the room.

"There is a mirror above the table to your left if you need it to fix your hair." The doctor instructed without even looking back in her direction, he appeared to be too busy throwing the needle away into a biohazard receptacle located near the lab table where he now stood.

She slowly walked over to the table to her left, trying her best not to look at the deflated little white body that was strewn atop the black tabletop. She finally exhaled a deep and ragged breath as she looked herself over in the small and dingy mirror that was taped to the wall above the table, she looked a fright. Her lips were red and swollen and her hair hung to one side in a tangled, ratty mess. She shook the thought of how unattractive she looked away and started to twist her hair back into the messy bun she always wore.

Once she was done re-pinning her hair up she turned around to see that the doctor was now watching her intently from across the room, his narrowed gaze sent an uncomfortable feeling of nervousness throughout her entire body. She met his stare for only a moment before shyly looking away to the floor.

"It's time to go back upstairs." His empty voice informed her, he then walked over to the only door to the room and with a quick clinking of keys unlocked and opened it.

* * *

><p>She silently followed him out of the room, down the hallway and onto the vacant elevator. Not a word was spoken between them the entire ride back to the second floor of the asylum. As the elevator doors slid open Jessica took a small step forward in attempt to exit the car, she was instantly stopped by the doctor's firm hand shooting out and grabbing her by the wrist. She looked back at him with both fear and uncertainly as he stared her down coldly.<p>

"I would like you to remember your promise to not tell anyone about today." It was more of a threat that a request and his words left her feeling very uneasy. "I need you to swear that this stays between us, Ms. Matthews." He narrowed his gaze on her now, sending her the darkest look she had ever seen in her life.

A cold sweat ran down her spine as she tried to control the sudden urge to run.

"Yes, Dr. Crane."She timidly replied, all color now gone from her already pale face. "I swear." She dropped her eyes to the elevator's floor.

"Good girl." Was all he said in response, the words causing her to look back up at him questioningly. "You may go home now, Ms. Matthews." He insisted, she opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off before she could even begin. "Go home." He demanded as he released his grip on her wrist.

Jonathan stepped off of the elevator, leaving his assistant alone on the car; he then turned to her one last time before walking back to his office.

"I'll see you tomorrow." And with those last words from him she watched as he turned and headed down the hallway away from her.

Jessica rode the elevator down to ground floor of the asylum, her confusion never once escaping her as she left the building and headed home for the day. As she sat all alone on the monorail car, awaiting her neighborhood stop, all she could do was wonder what the next day would be like. How could she face the doctor again after what had happened in the basement, did she even want to be near him again?

She nervously placed her hands in the pockets of her blouse as she pondered over what she should do, her thoughts were then abruptly cut short as she felt something odd in her right pocket. Slowly she withdrew the small dried blue flower and held it out in front of her; she twirled it gently between her fingers by its twisted stem. She had homework to do.

* * *

><p><span>An:

Sorry for the delay on posting this chapter, things have been a little hectic lately.

To make up for my absence I have made this an extremely long chapter, hope you enjoyed reading it.

I will try to write the next chapter a little faster than it took me to write this one, but with work and all the craziness of my life at the moment I can't guarantee anything as far as time restraints. I ask that all of you please bear with me on this.

And please let me know what you guys think of the story thus far, please review as much as possible for your reviews are like writing fuel to me!

As always, thanks for reading!


	7. Sporadic

**Chapter Seven - Sporadic**

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><p>Jonathan paced methodically back and forth in front of his desk, the day had just begun and already his thoughts were overwhelming him. He finally stopped his stride to glance up at the clock on the wall; it was 6:52 in the morning.<p>

_**Ooh… our little assistant will be arriving soon.**_ The Scarecrow cooed from the recesses of the doctor's mind. _**What fun things shall we do to her today, eh Jonny boy?**_

_I have come to a decision._

_**Yes?**_

_I am going to fire her this morning._

The Scarecrow was flabbergasted.

_**Why in the world would you want to go and do a thing like that, Jonathan? I thought we were just starting to have fun with her, I thought she was going to be our little pet!**_

_I can't deal with the work that needs to be done in the basement and try to control your little outbursts around her. If the work doesn't suffer from our lack of concentration, then we are bound to get arrested when you go too far with her again and she tells someone about us._

_**Ever the good doctor, Jonathan… always thinking ahead. **_It would have been a compliment if the Scarecrow's tone hadn't been filled with such contempt.

Jonathan let out a tired sigh as he slowly removed his glasses from his face, firmly pinching the bridge of his nose as he always did when he was greatly annoyed. As he sat his glasses onto the top of his desk he was then distracted by the creaking of his office door as it opened.

"Good morning Dr. Crane." Her voice was more hushed and apprehensive this morning, her gaze fixed on the drab carpet as she stepped into the room.

He looked up at the clock one last time before turning to face his assistant.

"Seven o' three, Ms. Matthews I do believe you are late this morning." The usual malice of his tone was now lost from exhaustion and the statement came out sounding more of disappointment than reprimand.

"I.. I'm sorry, I was up all night studying…" she began to explain herself but stopped immediately at the sight of him waving his hand at her dismissively, he didn't have time for her excuses today.

"It's not important, besides I have something I need to discuss with you." He responded dryly, looking her remorseful figure up and down, it was then that he noticed something odd… she had not shut his office door behind her when she entered the room.

_**Well there's a first, I wonder why she suddenly feels the need to keep the door open, hmmm?**_

_I'm sure she is just tired and has forgotten._

_**Sure, you see forgetfulness, I smell fear.**_

"Ms. Matthews, please have a seat." He then gestured towards the chair in front of his desk as he quickly made his way over to the door behind her.

Jessica slowly traipsed over to the chair, feeling as if she were back in grade school and being sent to the principal's office. She sat down as the doctor closed the door to his office, the thought of being alone in the room with him now filling her with an odd sense of uneasiness.

"What would you like to discuss with me, Dr. Crane?" she questioned timidly as he returned to his seat across from her.

_**Yes, Doctor… what would you like to discuss?**_

Jonathan let out a deep troubled sigh.

_**You can't do it can you? You can't fire her, she's far too much fun to play with and you know it!**_

He cleared his throat before gathering the strength to begin.

"Ms. Matthews I think that you have learned all that you can from your time here at Arkham." Her face paled as the words left his mouth.

"Oh?" was all she could seem to say in response, the single syllable sounding so small and depressing to him.

_Why is this so hard? I have fired dozens of assistants and employees at this asylum… hell, I enjoyed every minute of firing those incompetents-_

_**Yes, but they weren't this cute or interesting, especially when they were scared!**_ The Scarecrow interrupted his thoughts.

He quickly shook the words away as he returned his attention fully back to the job at hand, firing his assistant.

"I will make a note to the university so you will get as many accredited hours as is allowed, but I am afraid that I must-"

"Meconopsis." She blurted out with certainty, causing him to pause mid sentence, his mouth slightly open and confounded as he stared her down blankly.

"I'm sorry?" he finally found the clarity to ask her, his words laced with utter confusion.

_What in the hell does this have to do with me dismissing her?_

"Meconopsis, it is a blue poppy found primarily in the Himalayas." She then produced the small dried blue flower from her jacket pocket and held it up for him to see.

He blinked a few times while looking from the dehydrated plant to her expectant heart-shaped face. The memory of her taking the flower the previous day had completely slipped his mind.

"I see that you have discovered what the flower is, and this is all well and good Ms. Matthews but as I was saying-" He began to fire her again before she stopped him once more.

"Precipitation reaction." These two words however he knew.

"Excuse me?" he questioned, a deep look of concentration now on his angled face as he looked across his desk at her, she swallowed hard before answering.

"That is how you can best break down the plant into a compound that can be rehydrated later and then absorbed into the lungs, precipitation."

_Of course, how in the hell could I have overlooked a process that is so simple? I mean it's one of the first things they teach you in chemistry!_

_**Does this mean we can complete our work finally?**_

_Yes, I do believe I can have the job done before the month is out._

_**Good…**_ The Scarecrow crooned with satisfaction. _**So does this mean we can keep little Miss Matthews?**_

_What?_ Jonathan snapped with aggravation_. For the last time, she is not a kitten you found on the street!_

_**Oh course she isn't! I know that.**_

_Good._

_**She is a timid little mouse in a cage.**_

_Am I going to have to remind you what is in my left pocket?_

The Scarecrow was instantly silent as the mention of the small pill bottle Jonathan was carrying in his suit coat's pocket.

_That's better._

* * *

><p>The day was nearly out and he still had not finished his conversation with his assistant. Jonathan instead chose to immerse himself in his work in the basement of the asylum, leaving Ms. Matthews to the tedious job of transcribing the notes from his therapy sessions. Even if it was breaking every doctorpatient confidentiality rule in the book, having his assistant look over his notes and copy them down into his computer, the important thing to remember was that this work was keeping her out of his way until he could muster the energy to actually fire her.

The Scarecrow had been eerily silent for most of the day, whether it was his way of letting the doctor do his work in peace or purely out of fear of disappearing into another Haldol fog was unknown, either way Jonathan was grateful for the silence.

_**Shouldn't we be checking in on out little assistant? I mean lord only knows what kind of mischief she could be up to in our absence.**_ The Scarecrow's raspy voice broke through; it would seem that the doctor had jinxed himself.

_I have more daunting things to think about at the moment than playing with her!_ Jonathan spat in retort as he slowly poured a milky liquid from one glass beaker to another.

The Scarecrow thought carefully before speaking again.

_**All I am trying to say, doctor, is last time we left little Miss Matthews alone to her own devices she found your secret stash of anti-psychotics. I wonder what she could be discovering about you just by reading all of your private patient notes, hmmm?**_

Jonathan could tell the Scarecrow was reaching but on the other hand he did make a very valid point.

"Perhaps we should make a surprise visit to my office after all." The doctor said aloud into the empty confides of his makeshift laboratory.

The Scarecrow couldn't help but smile wickedly.

* * *

><p>It was 11:43 a.m. and Jessica sat alone at Dr. Crane's desk, an open patient file spread out before her as her nimble fingers briskly typed away into the early afternoon. Her stern attention was suddenly broken by the piercing ring of the doctor's phone at the end of his desk. She helplessly looked out of the open doorway of the office towards the end of the hallway where Dr. Crane's personal secretary normally sat, the chair behind the woman's desk was however empty on this occasion.<p>

"Must be her lunch hour…" Jessica softly muttered to herself before focusing her thoughts back on the nagging echo of the phone's ring.

She chewed anxiously at her bottom lip as she counted ring after ring in her head, after about the 16th ring she decided enough was enough.

"Thank you for calling Dr. Crane's office, my name is Jessica, how may I help you?" She asked into the phone's receiver, a reflex from when she used to answer phones in the office of her high school for extra credit.

"I need to speak with Dr. Crane." Came the snippy female voice on the other end.

"Well…" Jessica stalled, looking around the empty office to no avail. "Dr. Crane isn't here right now, but if you would like to make an appointment-" She tried to offer but the woman caller was having none of it.

"I don't need an appointment I am with the District Attorney's office." The woman said sharply, completely cutting her off before she could finish her sentence.

"I, um…" Jessica had never felt more ridiculous in her entire life.

"Will you just tell him that Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes has called and would you please remind him that if he does not return my call before the day is out I will be forced to stop by!" With that the woman hung up, rather rudely in fact.

Jessica sat at the doctor's desk, still holding the phone to her ear in complete shock of what she had just endured.

"What a bitch." She said a bit too loud under her breath as she finally placed the phone back on its base.

"I don't believe I have ever heard you swear before, Miss Matthews." The sudden male voice caused her to visibly jump at least an inch in the air.

To her surprise, there stood the good doctor in the open doorway of his office, looking her seated figure over in both amusement and curiosity.

"Dr. Crane, how long have you been standing there?" Jessica asked meekly, he let a small smirk play on his face as he blindly reached back and shut the door to his office with a resounding thud.

"Oh, just somewhere around 'Dr. Crane isn't here right now, would you like to make an appointment'… quite the little secretary you would make." There was an almost playfulness to his tone that caught her off guard.

Jessica looked him over closely; his usual stiff and professional figure was somewhat casual and slack.

"I'm sorry if you didn't want me to answer the phone Dr. Crane, but your secretary is at lunch and-" Before she could even finish her explanation they were both distracted by the sound of paper being slid under the office's closed door.

He looked from the floor where a small pile of letters now lay to up at his assistant's pale face.

"It would seem that Mrs. Andrews is back from her lunch break." He mused with another half smile before reaching down and scooping up his mail from the floor.

"I… I have a message for you from a Rachel Dawes." She began, the mention of the woman's name made him look up from his mail with a rather pointed stare.

"Oh really? And what did that uptight bitch want?" his words instantly shocked her, which he quickly took note of and found very entertaining.

She suddenly realized that her mouth was hanging wide open and she quickly clamped it shut before continuing to tell him the woman's message.

"She wanted you to call her back and said that if you did not before the end of the day then she would be forced to stop by."

"Oh, I see she has resorted to petty threats now, how mature of her." He said with distraction as he turned his focus back to the mail in his hands, Jessica couldn't help to think if whether the doctor was really in a position to talk about maturity after his previous statement to her.

She watched him idly as he tore open one of the pieces of mail, the small smile from before had now returned to his lips as he read over the letter in his hands.

"What do you know, Gotham's best and richest are having a welcome home party for Bruce Wayne and as the director of Arkham Asylum I have been invited." He announced more to himself than to her, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Bruce Wayne?" she said the name aloud with confusion. "I thought he was dead."

"As did I, but not according to this." He held up the piece of paper before returning his attention back to its written words. "It says here that they will be having a party in his honor this Saturday at the Plaza downtown around 8 p.m., and oh look, I get to bring a plus one." He read to her with total amusement to the whole thing.

"Sounds nice." She offered simply, trying her best to keep on his good side, after this morning's near dismissal she knew that she was walking on egg shells.

His head suddenly shot up to meet her curious stare, his expression completely blank, it was as if he had forgotten she was even in the room up until that moment.

"Would you like to accompany me on Saturday, Miss Matthews?"

It sounded so odd to her, his tone, his invitation… there was something off about him today but she just couldn't seem to put her finger on it.

"I'm sorry?" she asked from her fog of distraction, she simply could not think of anything else to say.

"Would you like to be my plus one to the event, I mean you are after all my assistant, it seems only fitting that you would represent the asylum alongside me." He replied simply.

Now she was very confused, hadn't this man had wanted to fire her a mere four hours earlier, now she was somehow the best the asylum had to offer.

"I would love to." Jessica didn't even realize the words had left her mouth until it was too late to take them back.

"It is settled then." The doctor stated calmly, folding the invitation back up and placing it neatly into its envelope; he then looked down at his wristwatch. "Speaking of lunch hours, I do believe it is time for yours, Miss Matthews." He then looked up at her expectantly.

"But I still have work to do…" She began to explain, dropping her gaze from him to down at the desk's top where all of the un-transcribed files lay.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about those, I will finish transcribing them while you are at lunch." He said while pacing up to his desk, he flashed a somewhat cheesy smile as she stood from her seat across from him.

"I will be back in a half hour." Jessica offered softly, gathering her purse from the coat-rack beside one of his many bookcases.

"What the hell, Miss Matthews, take forty five minutes!" he announced as she opened the door to his office, she then looked back at him in total disbelief.

"I... I will be back in a half hour, Dr. Crane." She stated slowly, her face a complete mask of confusion… with his changing mood and professionalism, how could she be anything but perplexed by him.

"Very well then." He was back to his calm and stern demeanor now, she narrowed her gaze on him one last time before slowly turning and leaving the office.

As she shut the door behind herself, Jessica couldn't help but get lost in her thoughts which were now a whirling sea of diagnosis'… bipolar disorders, borderline personality disorders, the list went on and on.

* * *

><p>He listened carefully for the light clicking sound of his assistant's Mary-Jane like shoes to dissipate down the hallway behind his closed office door.<p>

"Well congratulations! If she didn't think there was something wrong with me before I am convinced that she does now, thanks to your little _performance_ here today!" Jonathan spat aloud, angrily tossing the handful of mail he held onto the desk before him.

_**Relax, Jonny boy, she doesn't suspect a thing. Besides, I think I did a pretty good job of pretending to have a constant stick up my ass!**_

The doctor released a heavy sigh as he closed his eyes and began to quietly count to ten in his head.

_One, two, three…_

_**Very mature, Jonathan.**_

_Four, five, six…_

_**You know, I don't know why you are acting so upset, if I were you I would be thanking me right about now!**_

_Seven, eight- Excuse me? Thanking you? Why on earth would I need to be thanking you for anything you have done today!?_

_**You would be thanking me for finally getting you a date! I mean when was the last time you got laid, Jonathan? Over a year! **_The Scarecrow was becoming very upset now, how dare the doctor under appreciate him like this.

_Oh yes, thank you! Thank you so much from inviting her to a public event with us where you can continue to further humiliate me! _

_**You can be so ungrateful sometimes, Jonathan.**_ The Scarecrow stated sadly, whether his feelings were truly hurt or it was just another act, the doctor was unsure of.

Jonathan's lean figure collapsed into the leather office chair behind his desk with an exhausted 'oomph' as he sat down.

_Look, I just think that it would be best to get her out of our lives once and for all, I mean things were so much easier before I hired her. _He now tried reasoning with his darker half.

_**You can try to change the subject all you want, but we both know how you really feel about her!**_

_Oh, and how do I feel, hmm? _

_**You forget that I know your thoughts just as well as you do, and I can see your little fantasies that you day dream up between paper work and therapy sessions…**_

The doctor began to nervously gather all of the loose papers he could find on his desk, pretending to be too distracted with mock work to listen.

_**To be honest, Jonny boy, there have been times when your fantasies have even given me cause to cringe, like the one you came up with this morning while you were in line at Starbucks…**_

Jonathan had begun to loudly hum to himself as he flipped through the unorganized papers he held, mimicking a child that refused to listen to his parent's instructions.

_**You remember, the one where you had her naked and tied down…**_

The doctor's hands were starting to shake now.

_**Then you started to tease her with the scalpel, slowly tracing it over her skin… oh how she screamed when the blade sliced into her soft thighs-**_

"Stop!" he exclaimed through gritted teeth, slamming his paper filled hands down onto the desktop so hard that he heard the floorboards give an ill creak beneath his desk.

_**Easy, doctor.**_ The Scarecrow's taunting voice was now calm and even.

_This! This is what I am talking about! _Jonathan was almost in a frenzy. _This is why she needs to go! Too many distractions!_

_**No, this is not why she needs to go, this is why you need to go out with her on Saturday!**_

_That doesn't make any sen- _The doctor began to think before the Scarecrow viciously cut him off.

_**So you can finally fuck her, Jonathan!**_

They were both suddenly silent.

"I know." Jonathan whispered with defeat into the emptiness of his office.

_**Good boy.**_

* * *

><p><span>An:

I would first like to apologize to all my readers out there, I am so sorry for this delay in updating. I never dreamed it would take me a whole year to submit a new chapter! I actually have had this one written for some time and felt that it wasn't complete enough to submit, but after realizing it had been a year I decided to just get over it and give you all something to read.

I promise to update as soon as I have the next chapter written, and I will stop second guessing myself so much that it takes 13 months to get a new chapter out. I just want to let you all know that I have not abandoned this fic, and I hope you all will not either.

Thanks so much for continuing to read my story.


	8. Discretion

**Chapter Eight - Discretion**

* * *

><p>It had become a game of silent treatment now, the way they behaved towards one another. For the past four whole days their working together had consisted of polite nods and brief hushed words that were always said at a respectable distance. These new little boundary lines may have had Jessica feeling at ease in their work environment, but Jonathan however was left feeling extremely on edge by it all.<p>

_**You have to admit, it has left us with plenty of free time to work in the basement, Jonny boy.**_

_Yes… the work has been getting done at a very steady pace…_ The doctor silently replied with distraction, his visual focus transfixed on the rear end of his assistant.

Jessica bent over the small table adjacent to the doctor's desk, her attention steadily on her stack of paperwork she was attempting to organize as quickly as possible.

_**Are you even listening to me, Jonathan?**_

_Does she really have to wear that to the office, I mean how inappropriate is that skirt!?_ The doctor retorted suddenly, the Scarecrow let out a heavy annoyed sigh to this.

She modestly straightened her short pleated wool skirt before returning to her full upright position, papers now in hand, fully in order and ready to present to her employer. He eyed her small form intently as she slowly traipsed over to where he sat at his desk, her eyes cast downward at the carpet as usual.

Jessica opened her mouth to speak to him but instead hesitated, the doctor looked up at her pale face in curiosity.

_Why in the hell will she not speak to me?_

"I've sorted the paperwork you asked me to, Dr. Crane." She finally muttered after a long pause.

Jonathan cleared his throat before responding.

"Yes, thank you Ms. Matthews." He then reached out to take the papers from her tiny grasp.

In that moment their fingers brushed ever so lightly, the sensation sending a shiver up his spine. His eyes shot up to meet her hazel stare; it was the first time she had made eye contact with him in days, and he was shocked by how much he had actually missed it.

_Those eyes…_

He suddenly realized that they were both still steadily grasping the paperwork, he then began to gently rub his index finger against hers. The realization of their contact caused her to break their stare, her eyes falling back to the carpet as she instantly relinquished the paperwork to his grip.

_**Aww, she's no fun.**_ The Scarecrow was giggling foolishly now.

_Shut up!_ Jonathan spat internally, knowing good and well that the joke was all on him.

"Is there anything else you need me to do before I clock out today, Dr. Crane?" she asked him while straightening up the remainders of her work.

_**Tonight, Jonathan! Don't forget to remind her about tonight!**_ His alter demanded with persistence.

_Can't we just forget about this whole thing?_

_**No!**_

Jonathan let out a tired sigh to this.

"Ms. Matthews…" he halfheartedly called to his assistant, she quickly turned on her heels towards where he sat. "Don't forget about the party at the Plaza tonight, you are still accompanying me I hope?"

"Oh, yes… I um, I had forgotten about that." She sputtered, her cheeks flushing crimson, he had to smile at this… the girl was a terrible liar.

Jonathan stood from his desk and slowly made his way over to where she stood, her head now downcast to avoid his intent glare.

"Is everything alright, Ms. Matthews?" he asked with false concern, now standing a mere two inches from her hesitant form.

"Yes, I… I…" he reached down and gently hooked a finger beneath her chin, raising her head upward until she was forced to make eye contact with him. "Yes, Dr. Crane, I will be there tonight." She answered finally, a slave to his icy gaze.

Her words made a smile pierce his lips.

"I am very glad to hear it, Ms. Matthews." His tone was now hushed, she remained silent however, transfixed in his eyes. After what felt like an eternity passed he released his hold on her chin. "You should go home and get ready, would you like me to pick you up or…"

"Oh, no, I can take a cab there." She insisted, walking to the coat rack by the door to retrieve her purse.

"Are you sure, it would be no trouble, honestly." He offered once again.

_**Ever the good gentlemen, Jonathan… just like Granny raised.**_

Jonathan bitterly ignored the Scarecrow's taunt.

"It's fine, Dr. Crane, I will be there at eight thirty." She reassured before opening the office door.

"Very well, I will let them know at the door so that your name will be on the invite list." He gave a slight nod of approval as she smiled back at him gratefully.

* * *

><p>He stood alone with boredom as he swirled the single malt scotch in his glass, it was his second of the evening and it wasn't even nine o'clock. Jonathan glanced from his glass to his wristwatch impatiently, it was eight forty nine and she was late.<p>

_Why am I even waiting, she's probably decided not to come!_ He spat with petulance into the recesses of his own mind.

_**Don't be so pessimistic, Jonny boy, she'll be here… **_

_How do you know?_

_**Because you asked her to, that's how I know.**_

_And what is that supposed to mean?_

_**You know very well that that little girl does everything you tell her to do, she's like your faithful dog!**_

Jonathan didn't know whether to smile or sneer at the Scarecrow's comment, he instead took a long sip of his scotch.

* * *

><p>Traffic had been worse than she had anticipated and the knowledge of how late she was going to be left an unsettling knot in the pit of her stomach, well, that and the fact that she was nervous as all hell. Something about being in a room full of the richest and most important people in Gotham had Jessica feeling queasy, not to mention that her employer would be there amongst them.<p>

And what of the infamous Dr. Jonathan Crane? She couldn't help but ask herself a million questions pertaining to this man and his furthering mental state; she had even started to keep a journal of every little psychotic mannerism he displayed in her presence, not to mention his changes in personality, mood and demeanor.

She let out a deep sigh, best to not think of such things tonight, not when she would be in his company the entire evening… besides, she was already feeling enough on edge.

As the taxi pulled up to the front of the Gotham Plaza Hotel she took a deep calming breath, it was time put on a brave face.

* * *

><p>Jonathan surveyed the hotel's entrance one last time, he was about to give up hope when he decided to do a double take of the last figure he had seen, a tall brunette in a curve hugging dark burgundy cocktail dress.<p>

_It's not her… I knew she wouldn't-_

Before the doctor could even finish his thought the brunette that had caught his eye turned in his direction, her long dark curls falling gracefully to one side and cascading down her right shoulder.

"Ms. Matthews?" he found himself asking aloud, the brunette smiled kindly at the mention of her name.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her as she carefully made her way across the foyer towards him, her smoky lined eyes looking him over quickly before falling to the marble floor. Jonathan nervously downed what was left of his drink in one large gulp, handing the now empty glass off to a passing server with a subtle cough from the warm liquid.

"Good evening, Dr. Crane." Came her small greeting to him, he couldn't seem to speak however, only look her figure up and down almost rudely.

"You… you're late." Was all he did say in reply when his words finally returned to him.

_**Real smooth, Jonny boy.**_

"I'm sorry, traffic was horrible, I told the driver that I had to be here by-" she started her usual montage of excuses, he only shook his head as the spell of the shocking sight of her instantly faded, this was definitely his assistant standing before him.

"It's alright, Ms. Matthews." He interrupted her suddenly, she looked back at him with worry etched on her perfectly made-up face. "I'm just glad that you made it is all." He finished softly, she tried failing to hide the small smile that was now on her glossed lips.

_**Dear god, Jonathan…**_ The Scarecrow growled as he looked the female figure in front of them over. _**You definitely have to fuck her tonight, I mean it truly is amazing what a pair of stilettos and a push-up bra can do!**_

The doctor cleared his throat loudly, breaking through the moment of silence between them. He opened his mouth to speak to his assistant when his attention was suddenly drawn to the slender blonde who was now sauntering over to him.

"Hello, Jonathan." The blonde woman's seductive voice caressed his name as she slithered past him, making sure to rub the front of her body against his backside as she did.

"Hello, Annabelle." He responded stiffly, not taking his eyes of his assistant's slightly shocked face.

"Long time no see." The blonde known as Annabelle whispered in his ear before disappearing into the crowd with a swish of red satin.

There was now an awkward silence between them, Jessica only stared at him innocently.

"That was our pharmaceutical rep." Jonathan said finally, as if this explained the display from moments before.

"I see." She muttered quietly to him, her view now on her own high-heeled feet.

_**Oh, Jonathan… you should have never screwed that one…**_

_Not now!_

"Would you care for a drink, Ms. Matthews?" he said in an attempt to break the tension in the room, gesturing towards the bar at the back of the large hotel lobby.

"I would love one." Was all she said, briskly walking past him towards the illuminated bar.

_I can already tell that this is going to be a fun night._ He told himself with disdain.

* * *

><p>Her hazel eyes danced from one expensive liquor bottle to another, all the while her white teeth biting down on her pale bottom lip. Jonathan couldn't seem to take his own eyes off of her.<p>

"What can I get you?" the handsome bartender asked, his voice ripping through her reverie.

"Oh, um…" she trailed off, looking down at her black satin clutch purse nervously. "Maybe I shouldn't…" she began before the doctor interjected.

"It's an open bar, Jessica." He whispered to her modestly, her already blushed cheeks now began to burn with embarrassment. "I'll have a Glenlivet, straight." He then announced to the bartender.

"And you, miss?" the man behind the bar asked.

"I'll have a Woodford Reserve on the rocks please." She answered him sweetly as he nodded before fixing their drinks; Jonathan however was taken aback by her choice. "What?" she couldn't help but ask the doctor as he shook his head in amazement.

"Nothing, I just never would have guessed that drink for you." He tried to withhold a smirk as the bartender slid their drinks to them from across the fine mahogany bar.

"I happen to like bourbon, is that wrong?" she teased before taking a sip of her beverage.

"No, it's just that most pretty little girls like to drink vodka mixed with some sweet concoction, not whiskey on ice." He let his smile show now, taking a gulp from his own glass as he did.

"I didn't know I was a pretty little girl." She shyly replied, looking down into the crystal glass she held.

Jonathan didn't know exactly how to respond to her statement, so he did the only thing he could think of at that moment.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked her out of nowhere.

Her face shot up as she sent him a look of confusion.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Crane?" she said as if she had not heard him correctly.

"I asked you if you would like to dance with me, Ms. Matthews." He repeated matter-of-factly, it was then that she noticed that there was classical music playing somewhere off in the distance, by live orchestra no doubt.

She quickly took a large swig of her drink before nodding to him; they then sat their glasses on the bar and headed out into the middle of the room where a handful of couples were dancing slowly.

It was clumsy at first, not knowing where to place their hands, or how to position their feet, but somehow they managed to overcome their awkwardness and dance. Jonathan gently pressed his hand against the swell of her back, taking a moment to graze his thumb against the soft velvet of her dress; she rested her hand on his shoulder as their feet seemed to move as one across the Italian marble.

"I like you in these shoes." He said finally, she looked over at him, puzzled by his words. "You're actually at eye level with me for a change." He then concluded.

"Oh, yes…" she said, now realizing what he meant. "I'm short." She then dropped her gaze down at her six inch heels.

"You're not that short." He mused with a small smile; she returned her eyes to his.

"I'm 5'3, that's short." She smiled back. "I mean, it's short compared to you that is."

Once again there was the inevitable silence between them; it seemed to be the theme of the evening.

"You know, I am surprised that you can even walk in those shoes let alone dance in them." He jibed, maybe it was all of the alcohol he had consumed or maybe it was just that he actually was enjoying himself for a change.

"I'm rather well versed when it comes to dancing in uncomfortable shoes if you can believe it." She replied with another shy smile.

"Oh really, why is that?" his interest was now peeked.

"I…" she trailed off as a blush filled her cheeks. "I used to dance ballet." She confessed to him finally, so embarrassed that she could no longer hold his gaze.

"I'm sorry, did you just say that you used to be a ballerina?" he couldn't help but laugh a little, it was just impossible to picture his mousy little assistant in pink tights and a tutu prancing around a stage.

"Hard to believe, huh?" she said softly.

"Frankly, yes." He scoffed slightly; she only kept her head down in shame. "So, let me guess, you were the pretty little ballerina type as a child, hmm?" he really thought he had her figured out.

"Actually I was classically trained in the Russian style for ten years." Jonathan was completely dumbfounded now. "I even dreamed of trying out for the Bolshoi Ballet when the time came but…" she trailed off again, this time her tone was not that of embarrassment but of something else.

"But you decided to study psychology instead?" he questioned blankly, still in shock from her previous statement.

"Something like that." Was all she said in return.

He could sense her uneasiness; this was obviously not a topic she wanted to discuss with him further so he decided it best to drop it all together.

"Would you like to stop, we could go out to the patio and talk there if you like?" he offered kindly, causing her to meet his gaze once more.

"That would be nice."

* * *

><p>She stood alone in the crisp night air, the ornate lighting of the hotel's patio casting a warm and romantic glow all around her. Her hazel eyes darted from one partygoer to another, some she recognized from television and print, others she did not but one thing was certain, they were either rich or important by the city's standards.<p>

"Here, you are." The doctor's eloquent voice broke through her daydreaming as he made his way up to where she was standing, two crystal highball glasses in his hands.

"Thank you." She offered quietly, taking the glass from his right hand that was filled with ice and whiskey.

Jonathan looked her over as she took a sip from her glass; the warm lighting from the patio seemed to cast an angelic glow off of her porcelain skin.

_Was she always this beautiful or is it just something about tonight? _

_**Could be the three, no four drinks that you've had tonight… maybe you should slow down, doctor. **_

He ignored the Scarecrow's comment, taking a large drink from his own glass, it was then that he caught a whiff of her sent in the cool night air.

_Is she wearing perfume?_

The sent was sweet and subtle yet entirely different from her usual of roses and raspberries.

_**I really think you should stop drinking now, Jonathan, we all know how you get when you've had one too many… remember Annabelle?**_

Jonathan quickly shook his alter's words away, his last one night stand was definitely not what he wanted to be thinking about at this moment in time.

_She's much prettier than Annabelle…_

The Scarecrow was rolling his eyes now.

"I haven't seen Bruce Wayne here tonight, have you?" she suddenly asked him, her oddly timed question shattering his boyish thoughts.

"Oh, no, I have not." He stated simply, taking another sip of his scotch as he collected his thoughts. "In fact, I'm pretty sure he's not even here, nor will he be."

"What do you mean, this party is for him, isn't it?" she was confused by his words.

"The rich don't need a reason to gather and flaunt themselves to one another, Jessica." He said with an underlining disgust to his tone. "Just the change of the weather is enough of an excuse, let alone when a billionaire playboy comes back from the dead." He scoffed before finishing his drink in one last gulp.

_**Congratulations, Mr. Lightweight, you are officially drunk.**_

"Speaking of changes in weather, it is starting to get cold out." She said more to herself than to him as she rubbed her exposed upper arms in hopes of warming them.

"Where are my manners, Ms. Matthews?" he instantly replied, sitting his empty glass down on a nearby table before removing his black suit-jacket.

"Oh, you really don't have to…" she began as he gently draped the dark fabric over her shoulders like a cape.

"Nonsense, it looks better on you anyway." He flashed a brief grin in her direction before straightening his black silk tie.

"I think you are the only man here who isn't in a tuxedo." She told him, her eyes fixed on her trembling hands and the drink she held.

"I was never fond of tuxes." He muttered casually, glancing around at the other people at the party with detachment.

"It's getting late, I should probably get home." She alerted him, her voice small and hesitant.

Jonathan was suddenly pulled from his people watching.

"Oh, are you sure, I mean it is still early." He tried to reason with her.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" she paused to think up a suitable excuse as their eyes met. "I'm really just tired is all." It wasn't entirely a lie.

"Very well, let me drive you." He now gestured for her to lead the way towards the hotel's entrance.

"I can take a taxi-" she began to say before he interrupted her.

"I insist that you let me take you home, Ms. Matthews, besides, I was the one who drug you here in the first place." He feigned remorse, putting on the best sympathetic face that he could muster.

"Alright, I mean if it's not too much trouble." She said finally, giving in to his advances, a huge grin now covered his face as he ushered her out of the patio area. "Dr. Crane?" She then questioned as they made their way to the hotel's fancy front doors.

"Hmm?" was the only sound he made in response.

"Are you sure you are okay to drive?" there was worry in her voice now; he only nodded politely with another coy smile in her direction.

* * *

><p>The silver Lexus pulled up to the front of the dingy apartment building with a screech of its tires.<p>

"Thank you for the ride home." Jessica said with a long breath as she quickly went to work unfastening her seatbelt.

"You're welcome." Jonathan huffed as he shut off the car's ignition; he was so upset with himself, driving under the influence was something he never did.

As he unfastened his own seatbelt he then looked over to see his assistant struggling to open the passenger side door. She tugged on the chrome handle as hard as she could to no avail until she was rewarded with a dull clicking sound from beneath the door's window. She ceased her assault on the handle before glancing over to where the doctor sat in the driver's seat, his finger raised above the automatic locking mechanism on his door.

"It should be unlocked now." Was all he could think to say to the situation.

"Thank you." Came her small reply, she pulled once more on the handle and the door swung open.

She felt so embarrassed by her behavior as she stepped out of the car, the doctor followed suit as he exited the automobile, pressing the small button on his keychain to relock the car before walking her to the apartment building's front doors.

"This certainly looks like a nice neighborhood." He mumbled beneath his breath as they made their way up the concrete steps.

"Well, it isn't the Narrows, but I guess it isn't Uptown either." She said with distraction as she fished out her keys from her clutch.

"I want to thank you for coming tonight, I really hate attending those kinds of parties." He divulged out of nowhere, her eyes shot up to meet his instantly. "They don't want me there, but someone has to represent the only place standing between them and the criminally insane of Gotham." There was sadness lacing his words now, she found herself with the incredible urge to reach up and stroke his face in comfort.

Jessica dropped her gaze towards the ground as she struggled with her own feelings, now was not the time to be inappropriate.

"I had a wonderful time tonight, no one has ever invited me anywhere before, let alone a lavish party with the rich and famous." She smiled sweetly up at him, her way of offering her thanks.

He was suddenly struck silent as he gazed across at her smiling face in the dim light of the street lamps.

_**Uh, Scarecrow to Jonathan! Do you read me?**_

_Huh?_

_**Upstairs… you want to go upstairs with her, remember? Our little plan!**_

"I had a lovely time too, Ms. Matthews." He said, rubbing his eyes with exhaustion, he was starting to sober up. "Goodnight." He then whispered before turning and heading down the stairs towards his car.

_**What? That's it!?**_

_Yep, that's it._

_**You've got to be fucking kidding me!**_

"Dr. Crane!" her urgent cry shocked him from his inner dispute, he turned around just in time to see his assistant rushing up to him in a click-clack of her high-heels against the pavement.

"Yes, Ms. Matthews?" he asked in a daze, his voice low and confused as their eyes met.

"You forgot your jacket." She then slid his suit-jacket off of her shoulders in one fluid motion, the entire display coming off far more seductive to him than he knew it actually was.

"Thank you." He took the garment from her with regret, maybe the Scarecrow was right, maybe he should find some reason to go upstairs.

_**I'm thinking… yes!**_

"Well…" she finally spoke, breaking their uncomfortable silence. "Goodnight." She then headed back up the stairs towards her front door.

"Goodnight." he released the word from his lungs, it was barely audible to even his own ears.

* * *

><p><em><strong>What the hell is wrong with you, Jonathan! That was not how this night was supposed to end! You were supposed to kiss her, go upstairs, slip her out of that dress and slip your cock into her!<strong>_

_Shut up! Things aren't that simple, okay?_

_**Of course they are that simple! **_

The internal exchange between him and his darker half had taken a violent turn once he had pulled the car onto the expressway ramp.

_It's not like that, alright? We have to approach things slowly…_

_**Listen to you, one smile from a pretty girl and it's back to tenth grade!**_

_Stop._

_**Don't act like you hadn't thought about this too! I know you had the whole thing planned out in your head just like I did, what you'd say at the door, when to make your move, when to suggest you go upstairs…**_

_I'm not like you._

_**Really? You're telling me you didn't fantasize about how good she'd taste, or how warm and tight she would feel around you, how sweetly she'd moan when you would thrust into her?**_

Jonathan feverishly began to loosen his tie, his breathing now labored and heavy.

_You need to stop this now! I have already had too many drinks to be driving as it is, the last thing I need is all of the blood rushing from my brain while we are on the expressway at night._

_**Spare me your little speech.**_

_Do you really want us to get into a head on collision?_

_**Yes, in fact that is what I had planned for us tonight, one hell of a head on collision with that little-**_

_I get it! I'm sorry… _he was now trying to reason with his darker half.

_**Are you now?**_

_Yes, and I promise I will jerk off as many times as I need to when we arrive safely at home, okay?_

There was silence in the car.

_**Fine. But this isn't over!**_

_It never is._

* * *

><p><span>An:

So… it took me thirteen months to submit a chapter but it only took me eight hours to write a new one… inspiration is an odd mistress!

Well, I do promise to write the next chapter as soon as I can, I cannot say it will be before the year 2012 is out, but I want you all to know that I am trying my best. I also want everyone reading out there to know that your reviews are greatly appreciated, if fact they are the fuel that gave me the speed to write this chapter with such haste.

Thank you all!


	9. Day Residue

**Chapter Nine – Day Residue**

* * *

><p>It was cold and dark where she was, the crisp chill of the air brought goose-bumps to her skin. As she began to survey her unfamiliar surrounds a sudden noise caught her off guard, making her jump slightly, her heart now beating out of her chest with fright.<p>

Before she could even turn around his hands were upon her, one now wrapped around her waist, the other lightly brushing the hair away from her neck and face. She released a shuddering breath as she felt the warmth of his body now pressed against her back. It was then that she caught a whiff of his sent, the smell was so familiar to her, the clean subtleness of sandalwood mixed with a hint of vanilla… she'd know that cologne anywhere.

"Dr. Crane?" she asked softly in confusion and she turned herself around in his arms, she was now facing him as their eyes met in the darkness.

He said nothing in return, the shadows and dim lighting of where they were hiding his expression from her completely. Suddenly she was blinded by a burst of white light, once her eyes adjusted to the scolding illumination she noticed his arm was outstretched, his fingers still hovering over the light switch by the room's shut door. She took a quick glance around them, immediately she recognized it as the laboratory in the basement of the asylum where he had taken her before… where they had kissed.

"Why are we here?" she faintly asked, her thoughts still engrossed in the memories of when they were last there, a blush now upon her lightly freckled cheeks.

"Don't you remember, Miss Matthews?" he took a step towards her as he spoke, his hand lazily falling from the light switch down to his side. "You asked me to bring you here."

Her brow was furrowed as she struggled to remember the conversation he was referring to, but her thoughts were somehow hazy.

"Oh, yes… I was asking about the exam table…" she trailed off, turning both her small frame and attention towards the table behind where she now stood.

"That's right, you wanted to know what I used it for…" it was he who trailed off now, their bodies once again so close, his chest pressed to her back.

She reached a hesitant hand out towards the table, her fingers fumbling with the crude leather straps lined in old wool as a sudden shiver ran up her spine.

"Is everything alright?" his soft yet assertive voice filled the eerie silence of the room; she instantly dropped the strap she held as if she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"I.. I was just…" she stuttered nervously, distracted by the feeling of his hand running slowly up the side of her arm towards her shoulder.

"You were just imagining yourself strapped down on it." He said flatly, she whirled around to face him now, a look of utter shock on her face, how could he have known exactly what she had been thinking?

"How did you-" he cut her off before she could finish her sentence, his long index finger now pressed gently against her still parted lips.

"It's okay, Jessica." He told her reassuringly, there was something slightly off about him, and about everything that seemed to be happening in fact.

Slowly he dropped his finger from her lips, her eyes met his in that moment, he then took a step closer to her and she instinctively began to back away from him, their eyes still locked on one another.

Suddenly she felt the hard metal of the exam table pressed against her back, the feeling was so familiar to her, his arms were now outstretched, his hands gripping the table on either side of her body… she was trapped.

"Must we keep playing this game, Jessica?" he implored, his tone low and hushed, she was completely lost by the meaning of his words.

"Game?" she sent him a look of utter confusion as he leaned in closer, then unexpectedly, as if to answer her question, his lips met hers in a soft and gentle kiss.

She was somewhat shocked by his brazen behavior but soon she found herself kissing him back. Their tongues entwined in a seductive dance as the kiss deepened, his hands moving from the gurney to her waist. He lifted her by her hips onto to the table's padded surface; she brought her hands upward, running her fingers through his dark hair as he positioned himself atop her now laying form. She softly brushed her tongue against his in a slow and steady rhythm as he moved his right hand downward, running his fingertips up her bare thigh beneath her knee-length skirt.

"Oh…" she moaned in a gasp as the tips of his fingers teasingly caressed her center through the thin cotton of her panties, causing her to become moist at his touch.

In an instant his hand was beneath her underwear, his skillful fingertips finding their way to the small bundle of nerves at the base of her warm folds, she moaned passionately into his open mouth as he began to stroke her at a quickening pace. She licked at his lips as he withdrew from their kiss, leaning over her as he knelt between her spread legs; he brought his hands to his belt, unfastening it in an instant. He sent her a look of surprise as she brought her shaky hands up to the button of his slacks, flicking the closure open before moving on to drag the zipper of his fly down slowly.

"I knew that you wanted this…" he breathed heavily in response, a satisfied smirk playing on his full lips.

"Y-yes…" she shuttered beneath him, he slid his hands back up her legs once more, only lingering a moment to grasp the top of her panties at her hips and then drag the garment off of her completely.

He was back atop her now, the lower half of his body positioned between her spread legs, his hand disappeared once again between her thighs, this time however he did not touch her, he instead freed himself from the loosened confides of his pants before entering her hot, wet core in one deep and deliberate upward thrust…

She groaned loudly into her pillow as the blaring screech of her alarm clock pulled her from the fantasy of her dream and back to the reality of her bedroom. Once the realization of the dream hit her, Jessica sat upright with a jolt of shock and shame. How could she have dreamed such a thing? She brought a hand to her lips as her wide eyes searched the darkened bedroom for answers, her heart still pounding feverishly in her chest. What did it all mean?

After a somewhat long shower she now sat at her small wooden desk beside her third story window, sipping at her steaming mug of Lady Grey tea. As she thumbed through one of her many psychology text books her mind began to wander back to the inappropriate dream she had had only a few hours prior, what could it have all meant? Freud would suggest that she had some very deep, repressed sexual urges pent up inside, where as Jung would argue that it was all merely her subconscious' way of dealing with all of the time she had been spending with the doctor at the asylum, not to mention last night's little outing at the Plaza… either way she was left feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Jessica chewed idly at her bottom lip before a thought occurred to her, she sat the mug in her hand down before getting up from her seat to grab her purse on the table by her front door, quickly she rummaged through it until she found the desired object, a small brown leather bound notebook. She sat back down at her desk as she flipped through the pages of the book, finding the entry that she was searching for, the accounts of her time spent with the doctor in the basement of Arkham, and most importantly his strange behavior with her. The wheels of mind were now turning in a different direction.

* * *

><p>It was yet another thankless Monday morning, Jonathan let out a weary sigh as the familiar sound of tiny footsteps echoed behind him.<p>

"Good morning, Ms. Matthews." He acknowledged almost robotically as he unlocked his office door, it had all become so routine to him now.

"Good morning Dr. Crane." She responded after a long pause, he couldn't help but look back in her direction before allowing her to enter the office before him.

Her gaze was on the floor as she anxiously chewed at her bottom lip, the eerie feeling of his eyes upon her did nothing to quell her nervousness around him.

_Interesting, seems she is a bit more apprehensive than usual this morning… I wonder why?_

_**Maybe she has telepathy after all, Jonny boy. **_The Scarecrow chimed in on his questioning thoughts.

_What do you mean?_

_**I mean perhaps she is so awkward around you because she knows that you've been jerking off to the thought of her all weekend long… **_The Scarecrow was now laughing hysterically.

Jonathan gritted his teeth at this.

_Once in the shower while drunk is hardly all weekend. _Hespat internally as he sat his briefcase down on the top of his desk.

The Scarecrow just continued to laugh to himself.

"I'm afraid we have a somewhat tedious day of paperwork ahead of us, Ms. Matthews." He began in his usual monotone demeanor while opening his briefcase and taking out everything he would need for the day. "The court has finally released Victor Zsasz to the asylum and we have to make sure that all of the necessary forms have been properly filled out and filed." He finished before finally looking up at his assistant who was now seated on the small couch across the room from him.

Her coat was off and he couldn't help but take in her full appearance, her hair was down for a change and her dark curls fell in waves around her shoulders. His eyes then began to take in the rest of her, including the white lace camisole she wore that was hidden beneath a dusty rose colored cardigan; a small smile crossed his lips as he looked her figure over.

_She looks pretty in pink._

He was suddenly hit with the realization of how cliché his thoughts were, _pretty in pink_… not that what she was wearing would technically be referred to as a pink, the color was far too simple and muted; he thought it fit her personality perfectly.

_**Could you really be any more pathetic, Jonathan?**_

The Scarecrow's words instantly snapped him from his fanciful thoughts.

"Let's get to work." He insisted suddenly in her direction as she sent him a confused look from where she sat.

Jessica only nodded politely, choosing to stay as quiet as possible, the less they spoke the less uncomfortable she would feel around him after the dream she had had.

"Here you are, sort these out and give them back to me when they are done." He reached his arm across the desk to her almost dismissively; she quickly crossed the room and retrieved the small stack of files from him before returning to the safety of the couch.

Time passed with agonizing slowness, the awkward silence between them not helping matters at all, the unbeknownst guilt and embarrassment they both felt being the main culprit.

A loud shuffling of papers finally broke through the bleak quiet of the office and Jonathan couldn't help but release a sigh of relief to welcomed sound. He removed his glasses momentarily to rub his weary eyes, when he returned the spectacles to his face he was instantly greeted with the sight of his downcast assistant now at his side.

"Here are the forms you gave me, Dr. Crane." She meekly muttered, leaning over his sitting figure as she placed the paperwork in front of him on his desk.

He couldn't help but let his gaze fall downward as she leaned across him, down to her somewhat visible cleavage tucked away in her modest looking camisole.

_Is it just me or is the top she is wearing a bit more on the revealing side today?_

He was right, even her cardigan was buttoned lower than her usual style this morning.

_And another short skirt as well…_

_**Only you would think to point this out, Jonathan… I mean do we really need another reason for your dick to spring up and hit the bottom of your desk while looking at her? Hmmm?**_

_I'm sorry but she is really- wait, why in the hell am I apologizing to you?_ He asked with both confusion and frustration to it all, the Scarecrow only laughed manically at this.

"Thank you, Ms. Matthews." He said finally, clearing his throat after speaking, he then began to nervously gather up the paperwork she had placed atop his desk, any little distraction to keep his mind from wandering back to what his assistant was wearing.

_**At least she's wearing stockings today…**_ His alter just had to have the last line.

Jonathan's gaze traveled back to her as she took her seat on the couch, his eyes then fell to her hips, following the curves of her pleated skirt downward until he was staring at her knees and the plain white nylons she was wearing. Slowly she crossed her legs, causing his breath to hitch in his throat, the sudden sensation making his jaw tighten and his hands tremble, it was then that he lost his grip on the papers he had been holding.

"Damn!" he swore under his breath as half of the paperwork cascaded to the floor between his desk and where his assistant sat, her attention now steadily focused on the task of organizing his files.

He moved from his chair, now crouched on the floor in front of her as he bent down to retrieve the fallen papers. Idly he looked over at her crossed legs, and more importantly over at the small gap that was now visible between her skirt and her thighs, his gaze locked onto the white lace top of her thigh-high stockings and the white garter straps that securely held them in place.

_Oh sweet Jesus Christ on a bicycle…_

_**And we have liftoff!**_

Jonathan rolled his eyes in disdain to the Scarecrow's mocking as he gathered up the remainder of the spilt papers, it took all the self control he had to not reach out and slide his hand up her creamy thigh before returning to his desk.

He sat back down in the leather chair, slowly tilting his head from one side then the other, cracking his neck in an effort to relieve as much tension as discretely possible.

_This is going to be a long day._

* * *

><p>The echoing sound of screams filled his ears like sweet music; a subtle smirk now graced his lips as he shut the exam room door behind himself as he entered the busy hallway of the asylum.<p>

"Mr. Samuels is having a psychotic episode, please give him 15 milligrams of diazepam and have him taken to a padded cell." Jonathan dictated to the approaching nurse, he straightened his tie before heading down the hall towards the elevators.

The doctor let out a tired sigh as he entered his office, shutting the door behind himself as he did, the only sound to greet him was that of his assistant still shuffling through the paperwork and files he appointed her earlier in the day. He glanced up at the clock on the wall above the couch where she sat before focusing his attention back to her distracted form.

"Miss Matthews, it is very late…" he began to say as her head shot up from her work, her hazel eyes locking instantly with his light blues. "We can finish this tomorrow." His tone was almost kind, his earlier aggravation now eased by the enjoyment of his last session with Mr. Samuels.

"I'm almost finished, Dr. Crane." Came her quiet reply, he only nodded wearily in return as he took his seat behind his desk.

The hour was late, and he was thoroughly exhausted from his long day of work… running an asylum and orchestrating the takeover of an entire city was oh so tiring. At least he was now running ahead of schedule when it came to his work in the basement, with a little help of Falcone's thugs and the incompetents of his asylum of course. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand, his thoughts now engrossed in his own victories as he idly tapped his gold fountain pen against the varnished top of his desk.

Jessica made her way across the office towards him, hopefully for what would be the last time of the day, she silently leaned over his sitting figure as she gently placed the final stack of papers on the desk in front of him. His eyes instantly traveled back to their location of earlier in the day, boring into her exposed cleavage beneath the camisole she wore. He simply could not bring himself to look away, the hint of her bra's white lace peaking out, it was calling to him, no screaming… it took every last bit of restraint that he possessed not to reach out and pull her onto his lap.

The sudden change in rhythm and volume of the pen in his hand tapping against the desktop drew her attention, it had gone from a faint ticking to a loud and persistent drumming, she looked up at him at that moment only to find his gaze firmly focused on her chest. Jessica's eyes travelled down towards the area of his interest, she then began to blush madly when the realization struck her, he was staring directly down her shirt.

Jonathan looked up at her face, the bright flustered glow on her cheeks giving her away, he knew perfectly well that he had been caught staring.

"Miss Matthews…" he addressed her finally, his voice low and steady.

"Yes, Dr. Crane?" she answered shakily, unable to look at him for fear of coming completely undone.

_**May I fuck you on top of my desk?**_

"Would you like to go to dinner with me?" his voice was calm and direct.

_**What!?**_

"What?" she responded slowly, her mind awash with confusion.

"You must be hungry, I mean lunch was nearly seven hours ago." He stood from his desk as she continued to be lost in her own thoughts.

He towered over her now, her eyes still glued to the top of his desk in contemplation, he leaned his face down towards her own , unable to resist the urge…

"Tick tock, Jessica." He teased in her ear, the sound and realization of how close he now was causing her to visibly jump.

"Yes!" she nervously exclaimed, he couldn't help but smile at her uneasiness. "I mean, yes Dr. Crane… I will have dinner with you." She shook her head slightly from side to side, silently scolding herself for acting so foolish.

"Wonderful, where would you like to go?" he asked as he made his way over to the coat rack by the door.

"Do you like sushi?" she responded innocently, he felt the grimace form on his lips before he could even try to fight it.

_**If this night doesn't end in an orgasm from something other than our right hand I swear to god, Jonathan…**_

* * *

><p>They sat across from each other in awkward silence, nothing separating them but a small ornate wooden table.<p>

"So, tell me about yourself, I know that you drink bourbon, like sushi and used to be a ballerina…" his somewhat playful voice broke through the quietness of the nearly empty sushi restaurant. "What else is there to know about you, Ms. Matthews?" he looked her small seated figure over as he spoke.

"I don't really know what else to tell you, I'm not a very interesting person." she answered him simply, her hands nervously toying with the chopsticks on the table. "What about you?" she suddenly asked him out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" he sent her a confused stare.

"Well I feel like you know far more about me than I do about you, where did you grow up?" she sent him a sweet smile now, how could he possibly refuse her when she smiled at him like that?

"Arlen, Georgia." He stated calmly, her smile increased now. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I just can't see you as a country boy is all!" she beamed at him, he felt himself beginning to smile slightly as well.

"Welcome to Osaka House, my name is Amy can I get you something to drink?" the unenthused voice of their server interrupted suddenly, her bored stare moving back and forth between them.

"I'll just have water, thank you." Jonathan replied monotone.

"Um... diet coke please." Jessica added as the dark haired waitress scribbled their drink orders down in her book before leaving them alone.

"If it's any consolation, I was born in South Carolina." Jessica told him, renewing their interrupted conversation.

"South Carolina?" he raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"Yes, Mount Pleasant to be exact." She blushed as the waitress reappeared, placing their drinks on the table before readying her pen for their dinner orders.

"Oh, um… do you have anything vegetarian?" Jonathan asked the less than jovial server who only rolled her eyes at his question.

"They're on the right side on the menu." Amy replied with little interest.

He cleared his throat before looking down at the printed words on the simple piece of paper.

"I'll have the veggie roll and a bowl of miso soup please." He then gave the girl a severe look before handing her his menu.

"You?" the server curtly looked in Jessica's direction.

"I'll have a yum yum roll and the salmon nigiri, please." She answered, the waitress snatched up her menu before turning on her heels and leaving their table.

"I am not tipping her." Jonathan stated flatly once the girl was out of sight, Jessica couldn't help but laugh softly as she took a sip of her diet coke.

* * *

><p>They stood at the entrance to her apartment building, the whole situation feeling all too familiar.<p>

"Thank you for dinner." She told him quietly, her eyes downcast as she spoke.

"It is the least I could, what with keeping you so late." He suddenly felt nervous, as if he were back in high school and they were concluding some post date ritual, only this wasn't a date… or was it?

_**You never had any dates in high school, Jonny boy. **_The Scarecrow chimed in on his thoughts when suddenly she spoke.

"Dr. Crane, there is something I've been wanting to say to you…" she began nervously, he took a step closer to her then. "I…" she trailed off once more, the words seeming impossible for her to find.

Jonathan gently hooked a finger underneath her chin, brining her face upwards as he lowered his lips to hers in one fluid movement. He was kissing her, she almost couldn't believe what was happening, panic filled her mind but for only an instant before instinct took over and she began to softly kiss him back.

_**It's about damn time…**_

He moved his left hand to her back as his right cupped the side of her face, their lips parting as the kiss deepened. She opened her mouth more, allowing his tongue entrance as he pushed her body closer to his in the cold night air, her head now dizzy and her knees weak… she had to hand it to him, the man knew what he was doing.

Finally they broke from the kiss, both breathing heavily as they remained clasped to one another in the darkness. Their eyes met in that moment, hers a sea of uncertainty, his as stern and focused as always.

"Do you want to go upstairs?" he practically whispered the words as he tenderly placed another kiss on her full lips.

_So soft…_

_**The things I'm going to do to her…**_

"This isn't right." She said aloud, more to herself than anyone else.

"What isn't right about it?" he retorted quickly, hurt filling his voice for only a second before his cold demeanor took over defensively.

She was silent then, tears beginning to fill her eyes as she stared blankly at the maroon tie he wore.

"You're right…" he said finally, breaking the harsh silence between them, she looked up at him as the tears began to spill down her flustered cheeks. "This can't work, I shouldn't have even tried." Never once did his voice give away his true feelings, outside he was stone, inside he was sand pouring through a sieve.

"I'm sorry for all of this." She practically sobbed into the void he had caused; all he could do was look her sad figure over emotionlessly.

"Goodnight, Ms. Matthews." He concluded simply before turning his back on her.

It was a long walk to his car, the cold winter wind echoing his own outward appearance… he had become so numb to these little rejections; they meant little to nothing to him now.

_She meant something._

_**And now you know she is just like all the rest. I tried to tell you Jonathan… they're all the same.**_

He removed the keys from his coat pocket and forcefully opened the car's door, once inside the vehicle he allowed a long held sigh to escape his lips. It had been quite a while since he had felt this way, the last time a woman turned him down he was still in college.

_And to think, I thought those days were long gone…_

He was then ripped from his own self pity by the loud screech of his cell phone ringing.

"Yes?" he hissed with annoyance into the receiver. "What do you mean he has been arrested, how is that possible?" Jonathan couldn't believe what he was being told, Falcone had just been taken into police custody. "I'm sure he can just buy his way out like he always-" the man on the other end cut him off, the Batman had seen to it that Falcone would stay in jail. "I'll handle this myself." He finished with authority before hanging up the phone.

_**This night just keeps getting more and more aggravating.**_

* * *

><p>Jessica cried quietly the entire way up to her apartment, her chest feeling as though it would implode in on itself at any given moment. What was she to do? It's not as if she could have invited him into her home… or her bed. As she locked her door behind herself the sudden realization hit her, how would she be able to return to Arkham? How was she going to be able to face Crane ever again?<p>

She let out a deep sob of misery before letting her body slide down to the floor beside her door. She cried freely into the emptiness of her apartment, hoping that her questions would be answered by some unseen force, but nothing came to her except exhaustion.

Maybe things would look differently in the morning... it was the only ray of hope she had left at the moment.

* * *

><p><span>An:

A million apologizes cannot express how I feel for letting this story go so long without attention. Between broken computers, sick tarantulas and the immense hours I must now hold down at my job I have been extremely neglectful of my writing… I hope everyone who reads this fic knows how appreciative I am of you all, and I have not given up on writing this story!

Thank you all so much for hanging in there with me, I assure you that there will be more where this came from… how soon it will materialize however I cannot say. Please be patient with me and once again thank you.


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